Serendipity
by cleotheo
Summary: A fun filled trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley's upcoming wedding throws up a surprise for Hermione Granger when she comes face to face with her past love, Draco Malfoy. But is it too late for the doomed couple, or were they fated to be reunited in the most unexpected of places?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Welcome to my new story – Serendipity. It has 22 chapters plus an epilogue. Updates will be Tuesdays and Thursdays.**

**For those wondering about the Darkness trilogy, I just want to reassure you that it will be completed. As I've explained, I made a mistake last year in starting to publish it before I'd finished the entire story, and as a result I put myself under pressure to complete it and found myself totally stuck with the writing. But I have no wrote a couple of chapters and once again know where I'm going with it. Although it will still be a while before it's ready to be published, but I can promise you that it will happen. I haven't abandoned a story yet, and I don't plan on ever doing so.**

**But for now, I hope you all enjoy Serendipity. Thanks for reading.**

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"Vegas!" Molly Weasley screeched loudly, glaring at her daughter, Ginny, and her soon to be son-in-law, Harry Potter, across the kitchen table.

It was Sunday lunchtime at The Burrow and the soon to be married couple had just announced their plans for a joint stag and hen celebration. Only instead of just going somewhere to celebrate in wizarding Britain for one night, they'd decided to spend the whole weekend in Wizarding Las Vegas. The wizarding world had just recently developed a presence in the Nevada city, but there'd been a lot of press reports regarding the new resorts that were popping up.

"Why would you want to travel all that way for a weekend?" Arthur Weasley asked in bemusement.

"It's supposed to be an amazing experience," Ginny replied with a shrug. "Besides, we want to do something wild before we settle down."

"It sounds awfully pricey to me," Percy sniffed haughtily. It was no surprise to anyone that straight-laced Percy didn't see the appeal of Vegas.

"We're footing the entire bill," Harry said. Between the inheritance from his parents, the money he'd received from the Ministry after defeating Voldemort, his wages as an Auror and Ginny's as a professional quidditch player, paying for all their friends and family to spend the weekend in Vegas was easily doable.

"That is not the point," Molly tutted. "I was reading an article about Las Vegas in Witch Weekly just last month. It reckons the wizarding resorts are based on what you can find in the muggle world in Las Vegas."

"That's right, they are," Ginny confirmed with a nod. "The basics are the same, but with a few magical improvements."

"And do you know what those basics are?" Molly demanded. "Well, I'll tell you. Vegas is all about gambling, drinking and sex."

"Sounds fun to me," George chuckled with a grin. "When do we leave?"

"We're going at the end of the month," Harry told George. "That way we'll still have a few weeks before the wedding when we get back."

"I think this is a bad idea," Molly insisted. "As well as all the debauchery, do you know they have tacky wedding chapels? Can you believe people can get married in Vegas at the drop of a hat?"

"Relax Mum, no-one's going to Vegas to get married," Ginny said with a chuckle.

"They better not be," Molly warned. "And that goes for everyone. If anyone comes back married, there'll be hell to pay."

Turning her gaze away from Harry and Ginny, she made sure to shoot a warning look at her sons that weren't yet married, which was basically Ron and George. Both Ron and George had serious girlfriends, in the form of Lavender Brown and Angelina Johnson respectively. The only other member of the Weasley clan who was single was Charlie, but he was living in Romania, although he'd no doubt be tagging along for the stag weekend.

"Don't look at us," Ron snorted. "We'd never get married in Vegas. Talk about tacky."

"Yeah," Lavender agreed. "When we get married, it'll be a proper celebration."

"When you get married?" George raised an eyebrow at his brother's girlfriend. "Is there something the pair of you aren't telling us?"

"Of course not," Ron said with a shake of his head. "Lav just means in the future. Right now, we're happy as we are."

"As are George and I," Angelina said. "We have no intention of getting married in Vegas. Although the other elements all sounds like fun."

"It all sounds like a recipe for disaster to me," Molly muttered. "There was none of this in our day."

"Times have moved on Mother," Bill said gently.

"That doesn't make it right," Molly argued. "I see no appeal in travelling half way around the world to get stinking drunk, gamble half your money away and indulge in suspect sexual activity."

"Who's to say the sexual activity will be suspect?" George asked with a smirk.

"I read there's a lot of working girls in Vegas," Molly confided in an appalled tone.

"I think that's more in the muggle world," Harry put in helpfully. "I'm not sure how much of the sex side has transferred into wizarding Vegas."

"I read there's several strip bars in the wizarding resort," Molly huffed.

"This place is getting better all the time," George said with a grin. At his side Angelina rolled her eyes, but she didn't bother reprimanding her boyfriend as she knew he was only having a bit of a laugh. "You'll have to show us this article Mum, it sounds very informative."

"As if I've kept such filth, I threw it away," Molly tutted.

"After clearly memorising the article," George muttered under his breath.

Molly shot her son a murderous glare, but before she had a chance to scold him, Ginny butted in and reassured her mother she had nothing to worry about. They were just going to go to Vegas with their friends and family for the weekend and have a good time. It wouldn't affect the wedding at all, since it wasn't happening until three weeks after their return from America.

"Nothing will derail this wedding," Ginny announced firmly. "It's going to be the wedding of the century."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up there," Lavender said. "I was talking to Parvati yesterday and according to her, Astoria Greengrass was in her shop trying on wedding dresses."

Parvati owned a wedding boutique in the new and improved Diagon Alley, and she was still Lavender's best friend, despite Lavender now working as a gossip columnist for The Daily Prophet. In fact, Parvati's boutique was where Ginny had gotten her wedding dress and bridesmaids dresses.

"And?" Ginny questioned, trying to remain blasé at the information. "As if her wedding will upstage the wedding of Harry Potter."

"She's marrying Draco Malfoy, Gin," Lavender pointed out, although her attention drifted across the table to where Hermione Granger was sitting quietly. When Hermione visibly winced at the mention of Draco, she inwardly smirked knowing she'd hurt the brunette witch she didn't like. "We all know the Malfoys will throw an extravagant wedding. It could well outshine yours."

"Of course, it won't," Molly tutted. "Who would be more interested in the wedding of a former Death Eater than the wedding of a war hero?"

"I'm sure some people would," Lavender remarked, still watching Hermione. "Some people seem rather fond of him."

"Yes, idiots," Ron snorted. "No-one who matters is at all bothered by Draco bloody Malfoy and whatever tart he happens to marry."

From her seat at the end of the table, Hermione felt the tears starting to sting her eyes. Making an excuse about not feeling well, she thanked Molly for the lunch and hurriedly grabbed her bag. After promising Ginny they could have lunch later in the week to discuss Vegas further, Hermione excused herself and exited the Weasley house. Although everyone knew she hadn't left because she wasn't feeling well, she'd left because Lavender had brought up a painful part of her history.

Arriving back at her small flat, Hermione kicked off her shoes and dropped her bag onto her favourite chair. Wandering into the kitchen, she refilled Crookshanks's bowl, before turning and heading into her bedroom. As expected she found her cat curled up on her bed, but she didn't disturb him as she walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out a wooden box from the top shelf. Cradling the box in her arms, she returned to the living room and settled down on the sofa with it.

For a long time, Hermione just looked at the box, unsure if she wanted to look inside even though she knew every single thing that was inside the box. Contained in the box were physical reminders from one of the most memorable years of her life - the year she'd fallen in love with Draco Malfoy. Slowly opening the box, Hermione was confronted by a pile of pictures and mementoes, and the memories, which had never gone away, danced in front of her eyes as though they'd only happened yesterday.

It all went back to just after the war when Hermione had decided to go back to school and take her exams. Her parents had been found in Australia, but the memory charms were irreversible, and she'd lost them for good. Going back to school had been her way of dealing with things and getting her life back on track. She'd never once thought about leaving the wizarding world, but it had shaken her to have her only real connection to the muggle world eliminated, and she'd needed time to re-evaluate her life and decide what she wanted to do with her future.

Initially Hermione had thought she was the only person from her year returning to school, but then she'd found out Draco was returning. After the war he'd been arrested with every other Death Eater and stood trial. However, unlike all the other trials, his had been conducted in private as he'd been underage when he'd taken the mark. Because of their role in defeating Voldemort, Hermione and her friends knew bits and pieces about the trial and they knew enough to know that the Ministry were satisfied that Draco had been forced into doing what he did. Even Ron, who was the least rational when it came to Draco, accepted the decision and he even said he was pleased that Draco had a second chance to prove what sort of man he really was. Returning to school was part of Draco's attempt to turn over a new leaf.

Another part of his reform was to issue apologies to everyone he thought he'd wronged. Harry, Hermione and Ron had all been on that list, and they'd all accepted his apologies as it was clear to them all that they'd been genuine. However, while Harry and Ron then headed off to go into Auror training they didn't see Draco again, Hermione did, and she witnessed everyday how much he struggled to prove he'd changed. Because his trial had been conducted in private and only the result announced publicly, there was a lot of people unsure why he'd been let off without some sort of punishment, and as such a lot of people refused to believe he was genuine in his attempt to change.

As the only two people from their year to return to Hogwarts, Hermione and Draco had gravitated towards one another, and without the animosity that had been present since their first year, they'd found they could get along really well. Friendship quickly blossomed between them, and friendship led into romance. By the time they graduated, they were very much in love and had very firm plans for their future together. However, leaving school and telling everyone about their relationship had proved harder than even they'd anticipated.

Given Harry and Ron's understanding at Draco's position during the war, Hermione had expected them to accept her relationship with him with the minimal of fuss. However, they totally surprised her and wholeheartedly disapproved. They made it clear it wasn't about Draco personally, they just didn't think it was good for Hermione to be involved with a former Death Eater. Apart from George, who told Hermione to follow her heart, all the other Weasleys agreed with Harry and Ron and they believed Hermione was making a huge mistake in being publicly involved with Draco.

Draco's friends were only slightly better than Hermione's, with only Blaise Zabini really accepting Hermione. Pansy Parkinson was openly hostile towards Hermione, and she made it clear she didn't think the relationship would last. Gregory Goyle pretty much ignored her, and never went out of his way to be welcoming or nasty towards her. Theo Nott and Daphne Greengrass weren't exactly hostile towards Hermione, but they weren't exactly welcoming either. It was clear they were both uncomfortable with Draco being involved with her, although Hermione was never sure if they objected to her personally or the fact she was a muggleborn.

While friends were difficult to handle, Draco's parents were worse. After the war, Lucius had forged some sort of deal with the Ministry and he'd avoided a prison sentence in exchange for valuable information in tracking down the remaining Death Eaters. However, he hadn't changed his opinions like his son and he still believed pure-bloods were superior to everyone else in the wizarding world. The fact his only son was involved with a muggleborn, and a famous war heroine at that, hadn't gone down well, and he'd been determined to ensure the pair never married. Narcissa didn't seem to hold Hermione's blood status against her, but Hermione was always left with the feeling that Draco's mother didn't approve of her. Narcissa always left her feeling as though she thought she wasn't good enough to be involved with her only son.

Then of course there was the press intrusion in their lives, and their opinions on their relationship to contend with. Even though she'd refused to speak to the press, Hermione was still a regular in the papers as they'd loved nothing better than to write about the 'golden trio', which she was a part of alongside Harry and Ron. Draco was also a popular character for the papers to write about. Not only was he a Malfoy, not to mention rich and good-looking, he was also a former Death Eater, and the youngest ever one at that. The fact he'd escaped Azkaban also helped with his allure, and there were always fresh stories circulating over how he managed to avoid going to jail.

All the negativity coming from their friends, family and even the press, meant that their first few months out of Hogwarts were hard ones. Despite all this, Draco and Hermione had remained very much in love and they'd been determined to weather the storm and defy the odds to get their happy ending. Unfortunately for them, fate had other plans and less than six months after leaving school they'd been torn apart.

The pair had been out one evening when they'd been jumped from behind. Their attackers had been drunk, and they'd been ranting about Draco being a Death Eater and deserving to be punished. In the ensuing fight, Draco had ended up with a head injury, and while he was lying motionless on the floor, Hermione had tried to stop the attack on the man she loved. Sadly, she'd ended up getting blasted against a wall and suffering head injuries of her own. Luckily, they were found by another couple soon after the attackers scarpered, and they were both rushed to St Mungo's. Fortunately, neither of them suffered any permanent damage, but it turned out Hermione had been a few weeks pregnant and she'd lost the baby.

Almost everyone expressed the opinion that Hermione losing the baby was for the best, even Draco's parents seemed to share that opinion rather than grieving for a grandchild they'd never see. It was also suggested, by both Hermione's friends and Draco's father, that Hermione wasn't safe if she was with Draco.

Of course, Draco already felt guilty and was blaming himself for the attack, and hearing everyone else voice his fears only made things worse. Between the pressures everyone put on the couple following their attack, and the grief they were experiencing as they mourned for a child they'd never known they were expecting, their relationship began to crack. Amid all the drama, the couple had decided that even though they loved each other, a relationship would never work out between then, and with heavy hearts they said their goodbyes.

That had been six years ago, and Hermione now knew it had been the stupidest decision she'd ever made. Looking back, she could see it was grief and shock talking, and if they'd just hung on a few more months, they could have worked things out. However, they'd bottled it and they'd let themselves be torn apart by everyone else, something they'd sworn would never happen. Now it was too late to change anything, Draco was getting married and Hermione was left all alone with only her cat for company.


	2. Chapter 2

The view from Draco Malfoy's London office was spectacular, but the blond wizard was oblivious to the view even as he stood beside the window. Instead of admiring the view, he was focused on an article in The Daily Prophet. It was just a small piece detailing the efforts of the British Ministry to forge closer relations with other Ministries around the world, but part of the article was praising Hermione for her efforts in uniting the wizarding world. It was the part of the article about Hermione that had caught Draco's eye, not to mention the recent picture of his ex-girlfriend looking more beautiful than ever at a recent dinner held in Paris in conjuncture with the French Ministry.

Draco was pleased for Hermione's success, and he hoped her career continued to flourish. Hermione had joined the Ministry straight after they'd left school, although it was in a much lower position than what she'd expected to get. Draco had always felt she'd only been offered a lowly position because of her relationship with him but Hermione had argued that she would work her way up in the Ministry. However, since their relationship ended before Hermione had really had a chance to establish herself at work, Draco was never sure if she'd been right or not. Deep down he still wondered if she would have been allowed to show off her brilliance and achieve such remarkable things if she'd still been involved with him. He doubted it, but he would never know for sure.

As well as thinking about Hermione's success, Draco let his mind drift back into the past. Rarely a day went by when he didn't think about Hermione and the relationship they'd shared, but the thoughts were so much more prominent when he'd seen a picture or article about her in the paper. Inevitably his mind would turn to what had gone wrong between them, and what his life would have been like if they'd weathered the storm and stuck together. Draco had no doubt that if they hadn't been attacked and Hermione hadn't lost their baby that they'd still be together. Their relationship hadn't failed because they fell out of love with one another, it failed because outside forces became too much and at their most vulnerable moment, people took advantage of the situation and helped tear them apart.

At the time, Draco and Hermione had taken the attack and miscarriage to mean that everyone had been right, and they ultimately weren't meant to be together. However, Draco could now see that if people like his father had stayed out of things when she'd lost the baby, they could have worked through it. Instead, Hermione had her friends chirping in her ear about how she was unsafe with Draco, and he'd had his father playing on his guilt and encouraging his feelings that he was solely to blame for what had happened to Hermione. Ultimately, they hadn't been strong enough to ignore people's opinions as they dealt with the loss of the baby, and in their grief addled state, they'd ended their relationship.

Draco had regretted ending things almost immediately, but every time he even thought about trying to get back in touch with Hermione he could hear his father's voice in his head, reminding him that he'd been the reason she was attacked and that she was safer without him. Six years later, Draco still partially blamed himself for the attack on Hermione, but there was a part of him that acknowledged that he couldn't be responsible for the actions of others. He couldn't blame himself for how other people reacted towards him, all he could do was live his life away from the darkness that had shrouded his teenage years.

The only problem was, without Hermione in his life, Draco felt as though he was just going through the motions. Business wise, he'd left the family business, which he'd joined upon leaving school, and joined up with Blaise in his hotel venture. These days the pair were successful, and they had nearly half a dozen hotels around Europe, with plans to continue expanding their company. To be honest Draco was perfectly happy with his business life, he enjoyed being in business with Blaise and the move had salvaged his strained relationship with her father. However, his personal life was a different story.

For a long time after his relationship with Hermione ended, Draco had remained single. He'd had a couple of drunken one-night stands, but he'd never entered into a relationship with anyone else. He just didn't see the point as he knew he still loved Hermione, and he always would. However, his parents had been unable to just let him life his life and they'd began pushing him into finding a suitable witch to settle down with and produce the next Malfoy heir. Since he couldn't have the woman he wanted, and he knew Lucius wouldn't rest until he was sure the family name would be continuing, Draco had agreed to try and find a suitable witch to marry.

Draco hadn't had any luck with his search himself, although that was partly because his heart wasn't in it and no woman really held his interest, so his parents had taken over the job. Narcissa and Lucius had devised a list of suitable witches for Draco, and after whittling down the options, they'd decided Astoria Greengrass was the perfect choice. Actually their first choice had been her older sister Daphne, but Daphne was already dating Draco's good friend, Theo Nott. Then there was the fact she'd made it clear she would never get involved with someone who didn't truly want to be with her. However, Astoria had none of her sister's pride, and she was more than happy to settle being second choice in Draco's eyes as long as she became Mrs Malfoy and the next lady of the manor.

Draco's entire relationship and subsequent engagement had all been orchestrated by his parents, and just recently Narcissa and Astoria had been talking about setting a date for the wedding. The last he'd heard, they were talking about either a winter wedding, which meant he would be getting married within the next six months, or a summer wedding, which gave him a year before he was saddled with Astoria full time.

Draco's musings about his upcoming wedding were thankfully interrupted by a knock on the door. Before Draco had a chance to even turn away from the window, the door opened and Blaise sauntered into the office carrying what looked like a magazine in his hand. Draco was used to Blaise just knocking and entering the room, although he never did it if Draco was in a meeting.

"Hey," Blaise greeted as he settled himself down in the chair in front of Draco's desk and propped his feet up on the dark wood desktop.

Folding the paper he was holding and placing it on the table so that Blaise couldn't see what he'd been reading, Draco threw it on a nearby table as he pushed Blaise's feet off his desktop. "What's wrong?"

"Why would you think anything was wrong?" Blaise asked. "Can't I just pop in and say hello?"

"Fine then, what do you want?" Draco amended. Even though Blaise was a lot more laid back then him, he still took the business seriously and he didn't just wander into his office in the middle of the afternoon for a quick chat.

"You know me so well," Blaise chuckled, placing the brochure he was carrying onto his best friend's desk and sliding it over to Draco. "Have a look."

Draco picked up the brochure and frowned when he saw it was for a hotel in wizarding Las Vegas. "What am I looking at?" he asked as he flicked through the brochure. "I really have no interest in someone else's hotel."

"It's not about the hotel," Blaise said. "It's about the location."

"America?"

"Not just America, Vegas," Blaise corrected with a grin. "I think we should get in on the party."

Understanding suddenly dawned on Draco as he realised just what his fiend was angling for. "You want to build a hotel in Vegas?"

"I do," Blaise confirmed. "It could be just what we need to skyrocket the business. We can take our chain global."

"I know we've talked about expanding, but why Vegas?" Draco asked. "The magical community has only just begun to establish itself over there. Yes, it's new and exciting now, but who knows how long it will last. I don't want to be stuck with a hotel somewhere where people lose interest in within a few years. This could just be a fad, Blaise."

"It's not a fad," Blaise insisted. "It's the future. Vegas, and other places with a new magical community are the way forward. We need to get in on the act now, before the place is overrun with people wanting to get in on the action. We need to be one of the trendsetters."

"I hate to tell you Blaise, but someone has already beaten us to it," Draco said with a shrug. He didn't really see the appeal of Vegas, so opening a hotel there wasn't high on his to do list.

"Sure there's a few hotels and resorts already there, but they're not us," Blaise argued. "We can build the biggest and best resort wizarding Vegas has ever seen. We can revolutionise the hospitality industry over there. Sure, the hotels that are over there seem nice enough, but we can do better."

Draco studied his friend, not sure when he'd last seen him so set on anything. "You really want this, don't you?"

"I do," Blaise confirmed in all seriousness. "Promise me, you'll give the place a chance, Draco."

"How exactly do I give the place a chance?" Draco asked, even though he had a sneaking suspicion what his best friend was going to suggest.

"Come and visit the place with me," Blaise said with an infectious grin. "We can go at the end of the month. We can invite Theo and Greg and make a weekend of it."

"I'm not really sure I fancy visiting a place renowned for it's gambling and drinking," Draco muttered, glancing down at the brochure on his desk.

"Please, we both know you like a drink, and you're not opposed to the odd flutter," Blaise snorted in reply. "And don't forget the most alluring part of Vegas, the sexy women."

"I'm an engaged man, Blaise," Draco argued.

"An unhappily engaged man," Blaise retorted. "We both know you don't want to marry Astoria."

"Yeah well, what I want doesn't matter," Draco grumbled as he got to his feet and wandered back over to the large window behind his desk.

Shaking his head at his best friend, Blaise got up and joined Draco at the window. "We both know that's a lie. What you want, does matter. You should go after what you want, she's still single."

"I can't just turn up and turn her life upside down, Blaise," Draco whispered. "She deserves better than me."

"Isn't that her call?"

"We made the call years ago, so drop it," Draco said in a sharp voice. "Hermione and I are over, end of story."

"If you say so," Blaise replied with a sigh. He didn't for one minute believe his friend, nor did he think Draco believed what he was saying, but for now he would drop the subject. "So Vegas? Will you at least give me a weekend to sell you on the place?"

"One weekend," Draco reluctantly agreed. "If I'm not convinced, we look at Madrid like we've been talking about."

"Fine," Blaise agreed. "But I'm betting on Vegas. Once we're there, you'll not be able to resist the lure of the place."

"If you say so," Draco muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Now is that all? I've got budgets to go over for the Italian hotel. I still reckon we're leaking money somewhere, and I want to know where."

"I'll leave you to it," Blaise said, heading towards the door. "And leave Vegas to me. Just make sure you're free the last weekend of the month."

"I'll save the date," Draco reassured his partner as Blaise headed out of his office wearing a triumphant smile.

Returning to his desk, Draco took another look at the glossy brochure from the hotel in Vegas, before swiping it off his desk and directly into the bin. Putting Blaise's ideas out of his head for the minute, Draco pulled out the file on their hotel in Milan and set about trying to sort their financial position. By the time he was ready to leave for home, Draco had solved the problem and he knew exactly where the problems lay. Now all he had to do was implement a few easy changes in Milan and the hotel would soon be turning over more profit than ever before.

When Draco left the office, he found Blaise had already gone home. More than likely his best friend was off organising things for a weekend in Vegas. After checking the office was fully secure for the night, Draco flooed back to the penthouse he owned in wizarding London. The second he emerged from the fireplace into the floo room, he knew someone else was in the penthouse. More than likely it was his mother, but he really wasn't in the mood to discuss weddings.

Heading into the front room, Draco fully expected to find her mother settled on the sofa with some bridal magazine or something wedding related, but what he found was his fiancée lounging on the sofa in just her lingerie. Draco was perplexed by the fact Astoria was in his penthouse, as he kept his floo network locked for anyone other than himself entering the place and apart from Blaise the only person able to deactivate his wards and use the front door was his mother.

"How did you get in Astoria?" Draco asked as he shrugged out of his jacket and threw it across the back of a nearby chair.

"Narcissa let me in," Astoria replied. "We went shopping this afternoon and when we got back, I persuaded her to let me wait for you here. I wanted to show you what I'd bought."

"And what have you bought?" Draco asked out of politeness, not because he was interested.

Astoria pouted in her fiancé's direction as she gestured to her scantily clad body. "It's on display for you to see. You can come and get a closer look if you want."

Draco had to admit Astoria looked pretty stunning lying on his black sofa, in a deep red lingerie set that emphasised her fairly small breasts. However, the sight did nothing for him. He wasn't the slightest bit aroused at a half-naked Astoria on his sofa. Now if it had been Hermione lying there in just her underwear, he would have been over to her the second he entered the room, but he just didn't feel that pull towards Astoria.

"So?" Astoria purred, smirking at Draco. "Are you coming to unwrap me?"

"Not tonight Astoria," Draco said with a sigh.

Turning on his heel, he headed to the kitchen where he poured himself a large glass of fire-whisky. When he returned to the front room, he found Astoria was now sitting up, although she hadn't bothered to cover up.

"What's wrong with you tonight?" she asked with a petulant frown.

"I'm just not in the mood," Draco answered as he slumped down in a nearby chair. "I've had a long day, and to top it all off Blaise has this crazy idea that we should open a hotel in Vegas."

"Wow, that sounds so cool," Astoria gushed. "You should definitely do it."

"I wouldn't have thought Vegas was your scene," Draco remarked, giving his fiancée a puzzled frown. One of the reasons his parents had chosen Astoria as his perfect wife was her upper-class background, and the fact she was more than happy to be the perfect pure-blood stay at home wife, with no ambitions other than to cater to her husband's every need.

"A bit of fun now and again never hurt anyone," Astoria replied with a teasing smile. "You should try it sometime, Draco. Sometimes you're so uptight."

"We're going to Vegas at the end of the month actually," Draco said, not at all happy at being called uptight. "Blaise is convinced he'll sway me to the idea of opening a hotel there if we go and visit for a weekend."

"A weekend in Vegas, how amazing," Astoria gushed. "I can't wait."

"What do you mean, you can't wait?" Draco asked in confusion.

"I'm coming with you," Astoria stated. "I'm not going to let you go to Vegas on your own, Draco."

"I won't be on my own, I'll be with Blaise," Draco argued.

"And that's even worse," Astoria retorted. "Blaise can be a bad influence. I'm not letting him suck you into spending a debauched weekend drinking, gambling and shagging tarts. No, I'm coming with you, and don't bother arguing, because my mind is made up."

"What fun," Draco mumbled under his breath as he drowned the rest of his fire-whisky.

He hadn't exactly been over thrilled with the thought of visiting Vegas, but it was suddenly a lot more unappealing with Astoria tagging along. It looked like he would just have to grit his teeth and survive the weekend, and hopefully he would never have to go back.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione was just preparing to leave the office on Friday lunchtime when she was called into the head of department's office. It was the weekend she was heading to Vegas for Harry and Ginny's joint stag/hen party, and she'd taken the Friday afternoon off work to get packed. She'd also booked in a couple of days off the following week, so she could recover from the weekend before facing work again.

"Hermione come in and take a seat," the Head of the Department for International Magical Co-Operation, Hector Bloomfield, called when Hermione knocked on his door. "Don't worry I won't keep you long, I know you have an exciting weekend planned."

"That remains to be seen," Hermione replied. She was still sceptical about Vegas, but she'd promised Harry she would try her best to relax and have fun.

"Not keen on Vegas are we?" Hector chuckled.

"I'm reserving judgement until I get there," Hermione answered. "Have you ever been?"

"Sweet Merlin no," Hector snorted. "Vegas is very much for the youngsters of today. I prefer to spend my weekends away in cities like Paris and Rome."

"Sounds nice," Hermione murmured. A weekend in either Paris or Rome sounded preferable to spending a weekend in Vegas at a hen party.

"I didn't call you in here to discuss your weekend, I wanted to talk to you about this deal we've made with the French Ministry to try and forge stronger links between our two countries."

"Is there something wrong?" Hermione asked. She'd been heavily involved in helping smooth the paths between the respective Ministries as they looked to strengthen their ties to one another, and she hoped nothing had fallen through before any official paperwork was signed.

"On the contrary, everything is great," Hector reassured her. "You've been invaluable to the process, and I doubt we would have sorted things as smoothly without you."

"Thank you," Hermione said with a small smile. Since her work was the main focus in her life it was always good to hear she was appreciated.

"Because of your work, I want to recommend you for promotion," Hector continued. "We have an opening for a senior member of the team. Of course it means more travelling, but it also means a pay rise. Would you be up for more travelling, Hermione?"

"Of course I would," Hermione answered eagerly.

"In that case, I can say unofficially the promotion will be waiting for you to return next week," Hector said, giving Hermione a warm smile. "Of course, we need to go through the appropriate channels, but I see no problems with it going through easily enough."

Getting to her feet, Hermione shook hands with her boss. "Thank you so much, I really appreciate this opportunity. And I promise, I won't let you down."

"I'm sure you won't," Hector replied with a chuckle. "Now go and enjoy your weekend, Hermione."

Suddenly looking forward to a weekend away, Hermione left her bosses office and left the Ministry with a spring in her step. Returning home to her small flat, she spent the rest of the afternoon packing for her weekend away. She then ensured Crookshanks had access to enough food and water for the duration of the weekend, before she said goodbye to her precious feline, grabbed her bag and headed to Harry and Ginny's where everyone was meeting.

Over the last few weeks the pair had sorted out who was attending the event, and they'd ended up with a pretty decent group. All of Ginny's brothers and their partners were going, while Molly and Arthur babysat the grandchildren. Even Percy had been roped into attending the festivities, even though he wasn't that keen. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were also part of the group, as were Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan and their girlfriends the Patil twins, Parvati and Padma. Harry had invited a few wizards from work who he got along pretty well with, while Ginny had invited the girls from her quidditch team.

When Hermione arrived at Harry and Ginny's house she found almost everyone had arrived. The house was packed with people raring to go for the weekend, and everyone seemed in pretty high spirits. Saying hello to a few people, Hermione found Harry in the kitchen gulping down a glass of fire-whisky.

"Dutch courage?" Hermione asked, greeting her friend.

"Something like that," Harry muttered. "When we first came up with the idea, I don't think I really thought it through properly. I didn't think there would be so many people."

"Let's be fair, it could be even worse," Hermione pointed out. "You've basically stuck to family, close friends and a few work colleagues. You could have really gone overboard and invited a lot more people."

"We've got more than enough," Harry said, finishing off his fire-whisky and rinsing out his glass. "It's going to be a hectic weekend."

"Yeah, travelling to Vegas and getting sorted at the other end is going to be fun," Hermione remarked with a chuckle. "Good luck with organising everything, Harry."

"Laugh now, but Ginny has itineraries she's going to hand out," Harry said, laughing at the horrified look that swept over his best friend's face.

"Seriously? For the whole weekend?"

"Yep," Harry answered with a nod, just as Ginny's loud voice called for everyone to gather in the front room. "Come on, we don't want to miss anything."

Hermione followed Harry into the packed front room, where she found Ginny standing on a chair so everyone could see and hear her. While Harry headed over to Ginny's side, Hermione stopped next to a clearly bemused George and Angelina. The pair were struggling not to burst out laughing at George's sister, and things only got worse when Ginny cleared her throat and began to give a speech.

"Thank you all for coming, we really appreciate it, and we want everyone to have a good time," Ginny began. "However, with so many of us in the group, it's going to be hard to keep track of what's going on at what time, so I've drawn up itineraries. While Harry passes them round, I'll briefly go over them. When we arrive in Vegas, we'll be in the hotel where we'll check in and have a few hours to get acclimatised to the place. We've then booked dinner at the hotel complex for everyone to enjoy together. Tomorrow is part free time for people to do as they wish, and a few activates we've organised. The stag and hen parties will be held tomorrow evening, and Sunday morning is more free time, or recovery time, before we meet up at lunch time to come home."

"I've never seen such timetabled fun before," George whispered to Angelina and Hermione as Harry handed them their itineraries.

"It does seem pretty organised," Angelina sniggered.

"It's the oddest thing I've ever witnessed," Hermione added with a chuckle. "I mean, apparently I'm shopping tomorrow morning. Why would I want to shop? I'm bringing my own luggage."

"Maybe your clothes are too classy," Angelina suggested. "You might need something a bit raunchier."

"Are you also scheduled to go shopping?" George asked his girlfriend.

Angelina glanced down at her itinerary and scowled slightly. "No, I'm scheduled to go to the hairdressers."

"Maybe Gin thinks your clothes are raunchy enough," George laughed.

"What are you saying about the way I dress, George?" Angelina demanded.

Hermione chuckled as George set about trying to placate his girlfriend. Tucking her own bizarre itinerary into her bag, she shushed the couple as Ginny called for attention again.

"We've arranged port keys to take us to Vegas," Ginny announced as Harry disappeared towards the dining room. "Instead of all going to the Ministry, we've arranged for the port keys to leave from here. Harry will go through first, and make sure everything runs smoothly at the other end. Now, it will take a while for everyone to travel to Vegas, but it'll be worth it in the end."

"Let's see if we can grab an early port key," George suggested. "You never know what Ginny has in mind for those who have to wait for their turn. She might start singing or something."

"Why would she start singing?" Hermione asked with a laugh, although she willingly headed with George and Angelina as they darted out of the door and headed for where they last spotted Harry.

"To keep people's spirits up as they wait their turn," George answered.

"People are waiting for port keys, I don't think there'll be much of a wait," Hermione argued.

"Well, I still reckon we should be among the first to leave," George said.

They'd been right about Harry setting up in the dining room, and he was more than happy for Hermione, George and Angelina to be among the first to leave. After informing Ginny that he was leaving, and taking the trio with him, Harry activated the first port key, leaving his soon to be wife to handle the rest of his friends along with Ron, who'd agreed to help Ginny sort people and activate the port keys.

"Hold on tight, everyone," Harry called as the port key, which was shaped like a large coin, began to glow.

Hermione felt rather queasy as she felt the pull of the port key taking hold of her body. Travelling by port key was always disorientating, but it was even more so when they were travelling internationally. When they landed at the other end, the group took a few moments to steady themselves. When they refocused they found a wizard standing beside a glass door, and he greeted them with a wide smile.

"Welcome to The Kingside," he greeted. "Mr Potter, I presume?"

"Yes, I'm Harry," Harry answered, shaking hands with the wizard. "And these are the first members of my party."

"Excellent," the wizard replied with a professional smile. "If you exit straight through these glass doors, you'll find yourselves in reception. Our receptionist Becky will check you in and assign rooms."

"We'll have more people coming through for a while," Harry said.

"Not to worry sir, I'll be here to greet them and I'll send them through to the reception area when they've settled."

Thanking the wizard, Harry led the way to reception. The reception was a large lobby with white marble floors, glass walls and gold fittings. It really did look spectacular and Hermione had to wonder how much the weekend was costing Harry. She figured the weekend could almost be costing as much as the actual wedding itself, as she doubted a weekend in such a luxurious looking hotel would run cheap.

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter and I've made a group booking," Harry said to the receptionist when they stepped up to the shiny front desk.

"Yes, of course," Becky, the receptionist, said with a smile. "I'll just pull up the required records." Two minutes later, a sheet of parchment was sitting on the front desk. "If you sign in, one person per room, and I'll sort the keys."

"When you say one person per room, do you mean all the rooms are singles, or you just need the signature of one person staying in the room?" George checked. He was hoping it was the latter as he wasn't going to put up with not sharing a room with his girlfriend.

"Just one person staying in the room is necessary," Becky answered. "Mr Potter gave us the details about couples, so one name will be sufficient for our records."

"I'll go first then," Harry said. Picking up the quill that was sitting alongside the parchment, he signed his name on the top line.

Magically, a key appeared behind the desk and Becky handed it to him with a smile. "Mr Harry Potter and Miss Ginny Weasley, the lovers suite on floor ten."

"Do we all have suites?" George asked as he stepped up to sign.

"Wait and see," Harry replied as George and Angelina's key also magically appeared behind the reception.

"Mr George Weasley and Miss Angelina Johnson, the golden suite on floor eight."

"Sounds intriguing," Angelina said with a chuckle as George took the key from the receptionist.

Wondering what sort of room she would get, Hermione stepped up to sign the register. When her key appeared, the receptionist handed it over and told her she was in the Greek room on floor eight.

"Why doesn't Hermione have a suite?" George asked Harry, as they heard the second group emerging from the port key room.

"It is a suite, it's just some of our rooms have suite in the title, others just have room," Becky answered. "Although, it is probably slightly smaller since Miss Granger is on her own."

"I'm sure it'll be lovely," Hermione said. She was eager to go and see her room and see just what a Greek room was like.

"Why don't you three go and get settled, I've got other guests to check in," Harry said.

Exchanging hellos with the next group, which included Charlie, Neville and Luna, the trio headed for the golden lifts at the end of the lobby. Since they were all staying on the eight floor, they all alighted the lift together, and then they just had to find their rooms. Since each room had a name rather than a number it meant they had to check every room they passed to make sure they weren't missing their room.

"This is us," Angelina said, stopping outside of a room with the name 'golden suite' on the door. "Do you fancy a peek, Hermione?"

"Go on then," Hermione said.

George opened the door and the threesome stepped into a large room, completely decorated in cream and gold. The room was split into two, a bedroom half and a living room half. The large four poster bed dominated the bedroom half of the suite, with its gold silk sheets. Golden curtains hung from the windows, the white sofa had gold cushions dotted all over it, and the cream carpet was dotted with golden rugs. Opening the door to the adjoining bathroom, they found all the fittings were gold, including a golden sunken tub, a golden shower and even a golden toilet.

"Wow, this is a lot of gold," Hermione remarked.

"It is that," Angelina remarked with a chuckle. "It looks like they take their names seriously here. I wonder what Harry and Ginny's suite looks like?"

"With a name like Lovers suite, I shudder to think," George replied. "It could be all pink with hearts and stuff, or it could be all sultry and sexy."

"I guess it's time to see what my Greek room is like," Hermione said. "Do you want to come and have a look?"

"Of course," George replied, dropping their bags onto the floor.

Hermione found her room a few doors down from George and Angelina, and it was with a sense of trepidation that she opened the door. However, what she was faced with was a gorgeous Mediterranean style room. The receptionist was right, and it wasn't as large as the suite, but it was still larger than Hermione's flat. One of the walls was painted with a mural, which showed the gorgeous blue Aegean Sea and a handful of the Greek islands. The large bed had blue and white silk sheets, and there was carvings of the Greek gods and goddess on the wooden furniture.

"Now this room is nice," Angelina said with a low whistle.

"It is pretty lovely," Hermione agreed. When she was in the room, she would never guess she was in Las Vegas. It definitely had a Mediterranean vibe to it and Hermione liked it.

With George and Angelina leaving to head back to their room, Hermione finished looking around before she unpacked. The room itself was nice, but she was reserving judgement on Las Vegas itself. After all, she couldn't truly judge the place until she'd experienced more than a few rooms in the hotel complex. Hopefully dinner that evening would be a start and she would get a feel what Las Vegas was truly about.


	4. Chapter 4

As Draco expected, Blaise was less than impressed when he informed him that Astoria had invited herself along to Las Vegas. Also as expected, Blaise was reluctant to tell Astoria she couldn't join them as he didn't want to have to put up with the inevitable strop she would throw. In the end he conceded that Astoria was going to join them, and to make things easier he even suggested she brought Daphne along with her. At least that way the two Greengrass sisters could entertain themselves while Blaise, Draco and the boys had a bit of fun.

When it came to booking the hotel, Blaise booked suites at The Grand Phoenix, as it was the only one of the three wizarding hotels which housed a spa. The other hotels, The Kingside and The Meridian, lacked that particular facility, although non-guests could make use of the facilities of the hotels. Blaise just thought it was easier if they stayed in the hotel with the spa, so it was easier to persuade Astoria and Daphne to use the facility for a few hours and give them some peace.

On the weekend in question, Blaise had arranged for the group to travel by port key from his office. They were leaving after work on the Friday, and everyone was to be in Blaise's office at six o'clock sharp. Luckily everyone was on time, and by quarter to six everyone was gathered in Blaise's office. Draco and Blaise had even had time to head home, quickly get changed and grab their overnight bags.

"Here's to Vegas," Blaise said, handing round small glasses of fire-whisky. He'd decided they would have a drink as their port keys weren't due to activate until six.

"Let's just hope it's as good as you say," Theo Nott said, taking the glass off his friend.

"It'll be better," Blaise vowed.

"Well I think if you open a hotel there, you need to find better methods of transportation," Astoria sniffed as she refused the drink Blaise offered her. "Travelling so far by port key is very unsettling. It plays havoc with my hair."

"Merlin forbid anything messes with the hair," Draco muttered under his breath. Hermione had often joked that he was vain and was overly concerned with his hair, but he had nothing on Astoria, who refused to leave the house if even one of her blonde hairs was out of place.

"International travel isn't easy, Astoria," Blaise pointed out. "Establishing a secure floo connection can prove tricky. At the moment, port keys are the safest method to travel long distances."

"I think you should work on the floo connection," Astoria replied with a shrug. "It's better than using port keys."

"But you don't like travelling by floo," Theo pointed out. "You're always complaining it leaves soot on your clothes."

"I'd rather brush soot off my clothes than have wild hair," Astoria retorted.

"That's not what you said last Christmas," Theo argued. "Last Christmas you swore never to use the floo again."

"That was because when I visited you and Daphne, you hadn't bothered to clean the fire in years and I ended up covered in soot. I was black from head to foot. It took days to get my hair back to normal."

"I did warn you not to travel by floo," Daphne said to her sister, hiding her smirk as she remembered the incident. "We'd only just moved in, and we did say we weren't sure of the state of the fire."

"You don't invite guests round and not clean the fire," Astoria argued.

Exchanging amused glances with Draco, Blaise announced it was nearly time to leave and gathering up the glasses, he put them to one side and began organising the port key. Since there was just the six of them, Blaise had just organised one port key. Gathering around the port key, which was a shiny black rock, everyone made sure they had everything as they held onto it.

"Here we go," Blaise called excitedly when the rock began to glow.

Seconds later, the group felt the pull of the port key and they were whisked away to Las Vegas. When they landed, in a small bright blue room, they all took a few moments to acclimatise to being back on solid ground.

"Ugh, I get Astoria's point," Gregory Goyle muttered. "I've never used a port key to travel so far, and it's not nice."

"Told you so," Astoria crowed triumphantly as she pulled out a small compact mirror from her handbag and began to fix her hair.

"If you don't like it, you could always travel the muggle way," Blaise said. As he expected, Astoria pulled a disgusted face at the thought of mingling with muggles. "Thought not," he muttered, before raising his breath and addressing everyone. "Anyway, let's go and check in."

Since there was only the one door in the room it was fairly obvious how they were going to get to the main body of the hotel. Sure enough, when they exited the room they found themselves in a large reception lobby. Walking over to the elegant glass desk, Blaise greeted the receptionist with a warm smile.

"I'm Blaise Zabini, I've got a group booking."

"Of course Mr Zabini," the receptionist replied. Tapping on a piece of parchment in front of her, details of the booking appeared and four golden keys landed on the desk. "We have four suites for you. If you would just like to sign for your keys, one person per key please."

The four wizards signed for the keys, and after thanking the receptionist they headed for the large elevator at the back of the lobby. All their rooms were on the fifteenth floor, but they were spread a decent distance from each other as all the suites were spaced a decent way apart and were all rather large. One by one, the group found their rooms, until Draco and Astoria were the only ones left.

"Trust us to have the room furthest from the elevator," Astoria grumbled as Draco opened the door to the suite at the end of the corridor.

"It's just the luck of the draw," Draco replied, biting his lip to stop himself from complaining about Astoria's attitude. He knew from experience that complaining wouldn't change anything, Astoria was a bitch and nothing he could say would stop her from moaning if she wanted to.

The suite they were in was split into two parts, with a white double door that could be shut to separate the bedroom from the living room. The living room was decorated in natural shades of cream and beige, with brightly coloured pictures on the walls. The bedroom was painted a deep red colour and the bed was covered in red and black sheets.

"Ugh, it's a bit much isn't it?" Astoria complained as Draco dumped the bags on the bed and checked out the adjoining bathroom. "Why so much red?"

"Obviously it's the colour of the room," Draco replied from the bathroom. He actually agreed with Astoria that the bedroom was a bit much, but he had to admit the bathroom was stunning.

Everything was white marble, including the large shower and sunken Jacuzzi situated beside a large window. Draco immediately thought of the fun he could have in the Jacuzzi, if only he was with someone else and not Astoria.

"Now this is more like it," Astoria announced with a satisfied smile as she entered the bathroom. "This, I like. Just look at the Jacuzzi. Do you think we have time to try it?"

"Not before dinner," Draco replied, putting Astoria off for a while. He doubted he would manage to avoid being intimate with her all weekend, but he was going to try his best. "We need to unpack and change. Using the Jacuzzi will just delay us."

"You're right," Astoria replied with a thoughtful nod. "I think a shower could be the best solution. After all, I need to wash my hair after that awful port key journey."

"You can use the bathroom first and I'll unpack," Draco said, darting back into the bedroom.

"I need to unpack before I can use the bathroom," Astoria said, following after Draco. "Whoever's finished first can use the bathroom first."

It didn't take Draco more than ten minutes to unpack, but he still chose not to use the bathroom first. Instead he left Astoria finishing her unpacking and headed into the living area of the suite. On the coffee table he'd noticed a brochure advertising the hotel's facilities and he settled down to have a look. Even though he and Blaise were planning on checking out the three hotels for themselves, it wouldn't hurt to have a glance at what was supposedly on offer.

"I'm hopping in the shower," Astoria called, poking her head round the half shut door. "Do you want to come and scrub my back?"

"It'll only hold us up," Draco answered. "You go ahead, and I'll be there to get ready shortly."

Astoria pouted in disappointment before flouncing off to the bathroom. As the door slammed shut behind her, Draco winced at the sound. This was exactly why he didn't let Astoria move into his penthouse. He liked having his own space, and he didn't want to have to permanently deal with a temperamental witch who sulked every time he refused her sexual advances. However, on weekends like this it was inevitable they ended up sharing a room, and he always went home feeling relieved that they didn't yet live together. He was dreading the day he wouldn't be able to avoid letting her move in with him, then again, he was also dreading the day she was going to become his wife.

Knowing there was no point in heading to get ready until Astoria was out of the bathroom, Draco flicked through the brochure on the table for a while. When he heard Astoria finish up in the bathroom, he headed into the bedroom to sort his himself out. As he grabbed what he would need for his shower, Astoria settled herself on the bed with a tub of body lotion, and removing her towel, she began to apply it over her naked body. Draco watched her for a minute, very aware that the sight did nothing for him, before heading into the bathroom to have his shower.

By the time Draco emerged from the bathroom, Astoria was sitting at the dressing table in her underwear. Silently the pair each got ready for the evening. Draco decided to go casual with a deep green shirt and his normal black dress trousers, while Astoria had decided to go all out in a long, tight sapphire dress with a plunging neckline. By the time she teased her blonde hair up on top of her head and added a fortunes worth of jewels she was ready to go.

"You look lovely," Draco said sincerely. While he may not have loved Astoria, or even been that attracted to her, there was no doubt she was a beautiful witch and when she was dressed up she always looked stunning.

"Thank you," Astoria replied with a smile as she took Draco's arm and let her fiancé lead the way from the room.

By the time they reached the elevator, they'd been joined by Greg, who was slightly drooling at the sight of Astoria. Down in the lobby they found Blaise already waiting for them, and shortly after they'd arrived, the elevator returned with Theo and Daphne stepping out of it.

"I've booked us a table at the hotel's top restaurant," Blaise explained. "I then thought we could have a walk. The other two hotels are both within walking distance, not to mention the shopping complex. I figured we could get a feel of the place before exploring properly tomorrow."

"Sounds fine to me," Draco replied.

After finding out where the restaurant was located, the group made their way there. The restaurant was on the very top floor, and the entire ceiling and walls were made from glass, offering stunning views across Las Vegas. As they ordered drinks, the waiter explained that the view on one side of the hotel was wizarding Vegas while on the other side, it was muggle Vegas.

"We're not venturing into the muggle world, are we?" Daphne checked once the waiter had gone.

"No," Blaise replied. "There's pretty strict regulations in place to cross over into the muggle part of Vegas, but it's not why we're here. We're here to check out the wizarding side and see if it's worth getting in on the action."

"This place certainly seems to be doing good business," Theo remarked. Practically every table was full, and even in the few minutes they'd been sitting they'd seen guests turned away because they hadn't pre-booked and the place was fully booked.

It was soon very clear why the place was fully booked as dinner was served and it was the most delicious meal any of them had ever ate. As rich, pure-bloods they were all used to dining at the poshest restaurants and eating the finest foods, and the restaurant certainly lived up to their high expectations.

After a delicious dinner, the group headed back downstairs and explored some of the facilities their hotel had to offer. After an hour roaming around the casino and having a couple of drinks, they left the hotel and set off wandering along the road. Blaise pointed out the shopping complex not ten minutes down the road and Astoria and Daphne immediately made plans to visit the place the following day before they hit the spa.

A short walk past the shopping complex was the first of the other two hotels, The Meridian. Wandering into the lobby of the hotel, Blaise checked out the facilities while Daphne and Astoria's attention was caught by a billboard advertising a show the following evening. The show was an exclusive performance by Armando Blaketon, a famous male singer both Daphne and Astoria loved.

"Do you want me to get you tickets?" Draco offered.

"But you don't like him," Astoria pointed out. She'd tried to get Draco to take her to one of his concerts before, but he'd always refused.

"I didn't mean for me," Draco replied. "I can see if I can get tickets for you and Daphne. You can then come over here tomorrow might and enjoy the show."

Of course Astoria wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to see her favourite singer live, so she accepted Draco's offer. Ten minutes later, Draco had bought two tickets to the show, which he handed over to his thrilled fiancée.

"You're amazing," Astoria squealed, throwing her arms around Draco and giving him a deep kiss. "I love you so much, Draco."

Draco brushed off Astoria's claims with a smile as they left the hotel and carried on walking. He knew she didn't love him, she just claimed to whenever he flashed the cash and gave her something expensive. The words 'I love you' only ever left Astoria's mouth if she was getting something in return.

Just after leaving The Meridian, the group passed by a small white chapel. When Blaise explained what it was, Astoria and Daphne were less than impressed by the fact people could get married at the drop of a hat.

"It's so tacky," Astoria remarked with a grimace. "Who would want to get married in such a pathetic little place?"

"Obviously someone with no taste," Daphne replied.

"Well since no-one here is going to get married this weekend, it doesn't matter," Blaise said. "And look, there's the final hotel, The Kingside."

After briefly checking out the third hotel, the group returned to their own hotel, where they had a few more drinks and then headed off to spend a few more hours in the casino. In order to keep Astoria out of his hair, Draco changed a pile of galleons into chips and handed them to Astoria.

"Go have fun," he urged. "Anything you win, is yours. You can buy yourself something nice tomorrow."

After giving Draco a kiss, an ecstatic Astoria hurried off with Daphne at her side. Draco suspected she would play with some of the chips in the hopes that she would win, but if she didn't, she would likely pocket the rest and turn them back to money so she had a bit more when she went shopping. Not that Draco minded what she did, he was just pleased to get her out of his hair for a few hours so he could have some fun with his friends and see if he thought it was worth setting up a hotel in the city.


	5. Chapter 5

By breakfast on the Saturday morning, Hermione had decided that Vegas wasn't as bad as what she'd feared. The previous evening the group had enjoyed a wonderful meal in the hotel's dining room, before spending a few hours exploring the casino. Charlie had taken Hermione under his wing at the casino and he'd taught her the ropes in some of the games. By the time they'd left the casino, Hermione had won a little bit of money, and she could understand the excitement that buzzed around the casino after having a couple of decent wins. Now she was having a leisurely breakfast, alongside George and Angelina, beside the outdoor swimming pool.

"Did you enjoy your trip to the casino last night?" Charlie asked Hermione as he joined them at the table.

"I did," Hermione replied with a smile. "Thank you for showing me the ropes."

"No problem, I think you were my lucky charm. I won a couple of hundred last night," Charlie said.

"Lucky bugger," George remarked with a low whistle. "I just about broke even."

"As long as you didn't leave owing them money," Angelina said. "I can see people easily getting carried away by the excitement of if all and ending up in serious debt."

"I'm not that stupid," George snorted. "I never bet more than I can afford to lose."

Chatting about their evening, the foursome enjoyed the rest of their breakfast. Almost everyone else was also having breakfast around the pool, and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Hermione could hear people chatting about how they were planning to spend the day, and she spotted a few people consulting their itineraries.

"So what's on your itinerary for the day, Charlie?" George asked his brother.

"How would I know, I haven't looked at it," Charlie snorted. "I'm not having my little sister dictating how I spend my free time. I'll be there for the stag night tonight, and that's what we're here for after all."

"I was looking at some leaflets in the reception last night, and there's a quidditch obstacle course on the grounds," George said. "I was thinking of checking it out, do you fancy joining me?"

"Sounds like fun," Charlie said with a nod. "Count me in."

"Ange?" George turned to his girlfriend, knowing she loved to fly.

"It sound great," Angelina replied with a grin. "I'm up for showing you how it's done."

Hermione chuckled as George and Angelina started bickering about who was the better flyer. They were still bickering when Ginny headed over to their table, checking they were okay and knew what they were doing. However, when George mentioned the quidditch obstacle course, Ginny was slightly put out as she hadn't arranged for anyone to use the course.

"Don't worry if it costs extra, we can pay for it ourselves," Charlie reassured his sister.

"But you and George are supposed to be playing poker, and Angelina is supposed to be going to the hairdressers," Ginny pouted.

"No offence Ginny, but I don't need my hair cutting," Angelina said.

"You don't have to have it cut, you can just have it styled," Ginny argued.

"Sorry Ginny, but I won't be going to the hairdressers," Angelina insisted.

Ginny pouted slightly as she turned to Hermione. "But you're coming to the shopping complex with us, aren't you?"

"Sorry Ginny, but no, I'm not," Hermione answered with a shake of her head. "You know shopping isn't really my thing. There's nothing I need, and it's just wasting money I don't need to spend."

"So what are you going to do instead?"

"I was thinking of staying out here actually," Hermione replied. "I've got a new book, so I was just going to read and spend a few hours in the sun."

"Don't look so put out Ginny, we're having fun, and isn't that the whole point of this weekend?" Charlie said to his pouting sister.

"I guess so," Ginny conceded.

"Ginny, just go and have fun," Hermione urged. "Don't worry about anyone else, just enjoy your weekend."

Ginny nodded as she turned around and wandered away from the table. Slowly people began to finish their breakfast and leave. While George, Angelina and Charlie headed off for the quidditch obstacle course, after recruiting a few more people to join them, Hermione returned to her room to get her stuff together. Changing into her swimming costume, she slipped a light sundress over it and grabbed her new book. Ten minutes later she was back beside the pool, where she planned to spend the rest of the morning reading and having a dip in the beautiful looking pool.

Hermione ended up having a lovely morning beside the pool. She had a couple of dips in the pool, and got a decent portion of her book read. At lunchtime she had a light lunch, before packing up and heading back into the hotel to change for the afternoon. She was walking through the lobby to the elevators, when Ginny walked in the front door and called her name.

"How was your trip?" Hermione asked, eyeing up all the bags Ginny was carrying.

"Great," Ginny replied with a grin. "I want to apologise for earlier. I guess I got a bit carried away with these itineraries. The important thing is that everyone has a good weekend."

"Well, I'm having a good weekend so far," Hermione said with a smile. "I've had a lovely morning."

"That's good," Ginny said as they entered the elevator together. "Do you fancy spending the afternoon having a walk to check out the other hotels?"

"That sounds like fun," Hermione replied. "I just need to get changed."

"We can meet in the lobby in ten minutes," Ginny said.

Ten minutes later, Hermione and Ginny met up in the lobby and headed out to explore the rest of wizarding Vegas. The other two hotels looked just as impressive as the one they were staying in, and Ginny was already making plans for her and Harry to have a return trip. At one of the hotels, Ginny almost got distracted by a concert being held that evening, but Hermione reminded her that she had plans that evening.

"Never mind, our evening will be much more fun than watching a concert," Ginny said with a shrug as they carried on their walk.

"Just what do you have in store for this evening?" Hermione asked. Even though she was one of Ginny's bridesmaids, she had no idea what was planned for the evening. As far as she knew, Harry and Ginny had organised the entire trip themselves, and even Ron as best man had no say in what was happening.

"We're going to start with dinner in the Chinese restaurant. Then we're going to have a few cocktails in the rooftop bar, and then I've organised a private show in one of the entertainment halls."

"What sort of show?" Hermione asked warily.

"Hot, sexy wizards stripping for our pleasure," Ginny answered with a wicked grin. "And once we've had our fill of hot men, we're going to end the night at the nightclub. It'll be early hours before any of us end up in bed."

"Sounds like a busy night," Hermione remarked.

"It'll be a brilliant night," Ginny enthused as the two witches returned to the hotel to get ready for their evening out.

**.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.**

As he listened to Astoria twittering on over breakfast, Draco was thrilled that his fiancée had plans for the rest of the day. If he had to put up with her all day, he would likely go mad, but luckily she had a busy day planned with her sister. And thanks to his masterstroke the previous evening, he didn't even have to worry about her that evening. She would be safely at another hotel, enjoying a concert.

"I just feel so bad," Astoria sighed.

Draco frowned, wondering what he's missed in the conversation. "What about?"

"Leaving you," Astoria replied. "I came to spend the weekend with you, and I'm abandoning you. I'm going to be busy with Daphne all day, and then we're going out tonight."

"It's better than you sitting around here bored," Draco said. "I'm going to be busy with Blaise all day, and then again this evening we want to check out some more of the nightlife. I'd rather you went to your concert and had a good time."

"I promise I'll make it up to you," Astoria purred, leaning across the table and give Draco a perfect view down her dress. "Tonight, after the concert, we are going to make use of that Jacuzzi."

"I'll look forward to it," Draco replied with a fake smile. He'd put Astoria off the previous evening, so he knew he couldn't turn down her advances again without causing problems, and he really couldn't be bothered to deal with a mad Astoria.

After finishing up breakfast, which they'd been eating on their balcony, the pair got ready and headed off to meet the others in the reception. Daphne and Astoria headed off to the shopping complex, while Blaise ran through what the boys were going to do.

"Okay, so we're spending the morning here," Blaise began. "Then we're going to move along to the other two hotels. We'll then come back and have dinner with the girls, and then when they go off to their concert, we're going to hit the nightlife. I want everyone to pay attention, and make a note of things you think we could do better, or things that you think are lacking."

"No-one mentioned there was going to be homework involved," Theo groaned. "I thought we were having a fun weekend, now I have to take notes."

"It's not like I expect you to walk around with a notebook, Theo," Blaise said, rolling his eyes. "Just tell us what you like, what would like to see down better and if there's anything you're missing. Basically, we just want your opinion on Vegas and what we could offer that these other hotels don't."

"Got it," Theo said with a nod. "Now, let's get going. I'm hoping for a swim."

"Let's start with the pool then," Blaise suggested.

All morning the four wizards explored the hotel they were staying in, chatting about the facilities and different things they thought could be improved on. By lunchtime Draco was starting to warm to the prospect of opening a hotel in Vegas. The place was nowhere near as seedy as he'd imagined, and he agreed with Blaise that any hotel they opened could outshine the ones already present. And judging from what he'd seen so far, business seemed to be booming. Plenty of wizards and witches from around the world seemed to be visiting Vegas, and they all looked to be having a great time.

After lunch, the men headed off to check out the other two hotels a bit more thoroughly. Since they didn't really have time to do both hotels and do them justice, Blaise and Greg went along to The Kingside, while Draco and Theo checked out The Meridian. When they met up again to return to their hotel a few hours later, they compared hotels and decided that all three had something unique to offer. If Draco and Blaise decided to build a hotel in Vegas, they would need to find a unique trait to make them stand out, just doing stuff bigger and better wasn't going to be enough. Not that Blaise was worried, he was still convinced their hotel would be the best one Vegas had ever seen.

When they returned to their hotel, Daphne and Astoria were finished with the spa treatments, which they'd indulged in after their shopping. The group had a quick drink together, before they went off to their own rooms to get ready for their big night.

"So will you be building a hotel here?" Astoria asked Draco as they both got ready for the evening.

"I haven't made any final decisions, but Blaise still seems keen," Draco replied. "I doubt he's going to give up on the idea easily."

"I think you should do it," She advised. "Don't get me wrong, this place is nice, but it's nowhere near as classy as one of your hotels. I'd much rather be staying in one of your hotels."

Draco knew Astoria liked staying in one of their hotels because of the treatment she received as his partner. The staff tended to fawn all over her, and Astoria loved the power she had as his fiancée. Even though the business had nothing to do with her, the staff were all aware as Draco's fiancée she had a direct line to the boss. Of course they weren't to know Draco wouldn't pay any attention to anything Astoria had to say, and Astoria certainly wasn't going to tell them that. She liked being treated like a princess when she visited one of the hotels.

By the time they were dressed and ready to go, Draco was eager to say his goodbyes to Astoria and have a few hours of peace.

"How do I look?" Astoria asked, twirling around in front of Draco.

"Gorgeous," Draco replied sincerely. Astoria was wearing a daring black and red dress, which clung to her slender frame and showed off her long legs.

"Are you sure you don't want to come to the concert with us?" she checked. "I'm sure you could still get a ticket."

"You go and enjoy yourself, I'll see you in a few hours," Draco replied.

Leaving their room, they headed down to the reception where they met up with Daphne and Theo. Not wanting the girls to go walking down the street by themselves, Draco had arranged for them to floo down to The Meridian. Theo and Draco saw the girls off, and once they were gone, they returned to the lobby where Blaise and Greg had arrived.

"Okay boys, let's have fun," Blaise declared with a wicked smirk as he led the way into the casino.

An hour later the four wizards left the casino in high spirits and headed to one of the nearby bars. After a few drinks, Blaise suggested they go and visit the strip club. Theo was reluctant at first, but Blaise easily convinced him that what Daphne didn't know wouldn't hurt her. While Blaise, Greg and Theo were all keen on the idea, Draco wasn't fussed.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch you back in the casino later," Draco said.

"Where are you going to go?" Blaise asked his best friend with a pout.

"I'm just going for a walk," Draco answered. "You three have fun, and I'll see you in an hour or two."

Leaving his friends to enjoy their scantily clad women, Draco meandered out of the hotel and slowly set off down the street. Deciding to avoid The Meridian as that was where Astoria and Daphne were, he set off down to The Kingside. Maybe he could enjoy a peaceful, relaxing drink in one of their bars, before returning back to The Grand Phoenix and meeting up with his friends. Little did he know, his decision to head to The Kingside would completely change the course of his evening, not to mention the rest of his life.


	6. Chapter 6

Standing in front of the full length mirror in the bathroom, Hermione tugged on the hem of her dress as she wondered if she'd made the right decision with her outfit. Hermione was dressed in a strapless, cream and gold figure hugging dress which ended mid-thigh. The dress had actually cost more than she would normally pay for clothes, but she'd fallen in love with it the instant she'd seen it. However, it was a bit more daring then her usual style. Not that it wasn't a classy dress, because it was, it was just a bit sexier than her usual choice of outfit.

"Bugger it," Hermione muttered to herself, wishing she wasn't so riddled with self-doubt. "You're in Vegas, you're going to be wild and sexy."

With the decision made, Hermione applied her subtle make-up and left her brunette curls hanging around her shoulders. She then added a splash of colour to her outfit by putting on a pair of sapphire teardrop earrings and a matching teardrop necklace. She then added an armful of gold and blue bangles, slipped her feet into her gold heels and grabbed her cream bag. Checking she had everything she would need in her bag, Hermione exited the bedroom and headed down to the bar beside the reception to meet the others.

"Hermione, you look amazing," Fleur gushed when she entered the bar.

"Thanks," Hermione replied, feeling her confidence grow with the compliment. Since Fleur always looked so elegant, a compliment from her was worth a fair bit to Hermione.

"It's an amazing dress," Ginny agreed. She was also wearing a short strapless dress, but she'd gone a bit more daring and was wearing a hot pink number, plus the skirt was a lot shorter than Hermione's.

After having a quick drink in the bar, the girls headed off to the Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was one of a few in the complex, but Ginny had picked it for its laid back atmosphere. Over dinner, the girls chatted about the evening ahead. Ginny ran over the schedule so everyone knew what was going on. She also added that they'd likely run into the boys at the nightclubs, although she had no idea what they were going to be up to for the rest of the night.

"Are you not worried about Harry?" Lavender asked. "One of the bars in this resort is a topless bar. What if the boys visit it?"

"What if they do?" Ginny replied with a shrug. "It's no different from us going to see some strippers later. I trust Harry completely, just like he trusts me. Looking doesn't bother either of us, at the end of the night, we end up together and that's all that matters."

"Ginny has a point," Fleur said with a nod. "Without trust relationship don't work. I'm not bothered about my Bill going to a topless bar, because I know I'm the only witch he's interested in."

"Yep, trust is the key," Angelina added. "When you find someone you trust, you don't worry about what they're getting up to when you're not around."

"Even if they're George?" Ginny asked with a smirk.

"Okay, I'll rephrase that. I do worry about what George gets up to when I'm not around, but I don't worry about other women," Angelina amended with a smile. "I worry about things like; has he blown the flat up, does the cat have a pink tail, things like that."

"Does the cat have a pink tail?" Hermione repeated with a laugh as everyone else chuckled at George and his antics. "I didn't know you had a cat."

"We don't, but my mother does," Angelina answered. "About six months ago we were looking after it, and I came home to find its tail was pink. I still don't know what George did, but now my mother's beautiful white cat has a pink tail and we're banned from cat sitting."

Angelina's story had the girls in kinks of laughter, and the fun continued as they compared stories about the stupid things the men in their lives had done. Still laughing and joking, the girls finished up their meal and headed to the rooftop bar for cocktails. The bar was actually situated on the rooftop, and charms kept the place from getting too chilly. The bar also offered spectacular views, and sitting at one of the tables beside the roof ledge, Hermione could see all of wizarding Vegas spread out before her.

The girls stayed in the bar for a good few hours, before Ginny announced it was time for their private show. By this time, a fair few of the girls had been drinking fairly heavily and the atmosphere was starting to get a bit rowdy. Hermione hadn't been keen on the idea of a strip show to start with, but after a few hours drinking, she was less inclined to sit and watch hunky wizards take their clothes off. It was alright for the other girls, they could then have fun with their partners when they met up in the nightclub, but Hermione was alone. All she could do was go back to her hotel room and dwell on the fact she didn't have a significant other in her life, even though she was still in love.

"I think I'm going to skip the show," Hermione whispered to Angelina as they left the rooftop bar and started heading back downstairs.

"Why?" Angelina asked. Unlike some of the others she wasn't that drunk, which was one of the reasons Hermione had chosen to inform her of her decision.

"It's not really my thing," Hermione replied. "Do me a favour and cover for me if Ginny notices I'm missing."

"I doubt that," Angelina snorted, watching as Ginny burst into fits of drunken laughter at something Lavender said. "She's pretty wasted already."

"That's why I'm hoping she won't notice I'm missing," Hermione said. "I'll catch up with you all later on in the nightclub."

"So you're not abandoning us completely?" Angelina checked.

"No, I'm just skipping this part of the evening," Hermione replied. "You go and enjoy your show, and I'll go and have a quiet drink in one of the bars. I'll then meet up with you later, and you can tell me if any of the men compare to George."

"I doubt it, my George is pretty impressive," Angelina said smugly.

With Angelina covering for her, Hermione was able to slip away from the hen party as they headed to one of the entertainment rooms. Deciding what she wanted was a quiet drink, with very little chance of being disturbed, Hermione headed to the saloon bar, which was attached to one of the pools. It was the quietest of the bars, and she doubted the stag party would be using it. Although, if they were she could just leave and go and have a drink somewhere else.

Luckily, the bar was quiet when she entered. Grabbing a glass of rose wine from the barman, Hermione took her drink and headed outside. Hermione settled in one of the small booths that sat beside the pool on an evening and sat back to enjoy a few hours peace and quiet. She'd only been there for five minutes, when she felt a strange prickling at the back of her neck. Not sure what to expect, she turned around and her heart stopped as she found Draco standing in the doorway leading to the bar. As if sensing her watching him, Draco turned his head and for the first time in six years the former couple came face to face.

For a second, Hermione thought Draco was going to turn around and ignore her. But after a moment of pure shock from the blond, he approached her table. Hermione felt her heart-rate pick up dramatically as the man she still loved strolled over to her table.

"Hermione," he greeted quietly.

"Hello Draco," Hermione replied. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Ditto," Draco said, giving Hermione a small smile. "I wouldn't have thought Vegas was your sort of place."

"It's not really," Hermione answered with a shrug. "I'm here for Ginny's hen night, she and Harry and having a joint celebration."

"Nice," Draco said, not really sure what to say. He hadn't expected to run into Hermione, but now he had his feelings for her were all threatening to overspill, and he found himself unable to move away from her.

"Do you want to join me?" Hermione offered. She didn't know if it was a wise question to ask, but he couldn't just hover at the side of the table, and she wasn't ready to say goodbye to him just yet.

"Thank you," Draco said, sliding into the booth opposite Hermione. With it being such a small intimate booth, designed for couples, their legs brushed against each other under the table and they were both aware that all it would take was for one of them to slide along slightly and they'd be pressed right against each other.

"So what brings you to Vegas?" Hermione asked, trying to keep things from getting awkward.

"Blaise wants to build a hotel here," Draco answered. "He's trying to persuade me this is the perfect place for our next venture."

"I heard you'd gone into business with Blaise," Hermione remarked. Since their split she'd tried not to obsess over Draco's life, but she couldn't help reading things about him when his life was splashed all over the papers, just like she was assuming he'd read bits and pieces about her life. "Is it going well?"

"It is," Draco replied with a nod. "We've got a good thing going on."

For quite a while, Draco spoke about his business with Blaise and Hermione talked about her work, as they shared a few drinks. However, there was an underlying tension between them that even the drinking couldn't erase, and they both knew they'd have to address their past sooner or later. It was fine acting as though they were just old friends catching up, but they both knew it was so much more than that. Try as they might, their feelings for one another were just too strong to ignore.

"Are you happy?" Hermione suddenly blurted, unable to hold back any longer.

"Excuse me?" Draco frowned, slightly thrown by the abrupt change of subject.

"Are you happy?" Hermione repeated. "With your life? With Astoria?"

"I'm very happy with my business life," Draco replied.

"That didn't answer my question," Hermione said with a slight smile. Of course, it had answered her question, but she wanted to know more.

"Didn't it?" Draco retorted. "What do you think, Hermione? Do you think I'm happy?"

"How would I know, Draco? I'm not a mind reader."

"No, you're not, but you do know me," Draco pointed out. "If I was happy, you wouldn't have to ask."

"If you're not happy, why are you marrying her?"

Draco shrugged a shoulder as he took a drink from his fire-whisky. "Why not? I can't have the witch I love."

Hermione sucked in a breath at Draco's revelation. Even though she'd never gotten over him, she'd always just assumed he had managed to move on from her.

"Why can't you have the witch you love?" she finally asked.

"Because I messed up," Draco admitted quietly. "I had her, and I let other people come between us."

"I think you mean, we," Hermione correctly. "It wasn't like you ended things, it was a mutual decision."

"The worst one of my life," Draco muttered.

"You really think that?" Hermione asked softly.

Draco nodded as he reached across the small table and took hold of Hermione's hand. "I do. We were in a bad place, and we let the pressure get to us. I've regretted what happened every day since."

"Just the break up or what happened before?" Hermione questioned. She rarely discussed her miscarriage, but that didn't mean she didn't think about her lost baby every day.

"Everything," Draco answered. "I would give anything to go back and stop what happened with the baby and then the break up."

"So would I," Hermione whispered, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall as she thought about the past.

"Don't cry, Hermione." Spotting the tears in Hermione's eyes, Draco slid along the seat and gently brushed at her eyes with his thumb. "I didn't mean to upset you. I shouldn't have sat down."

"Yes, you should have," Hermione insisted. "Do you really wish we could take it all back?"

"Just the fact we split up," Draco answered. "I wouldn't change our relationship for the world. I just wish we were still together."

"So do I," Hermione confessed. "But it's too late now."

"Is it?"

"Isn't it? You're engaged to another woman."

"Not by choice," Draco snorted. "We don't love each other, it's purely an agreement to keep our parents happy. Personally, I'd rather do something to make myself happy."

"What are you saying Draco?" Hermione asked, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"I'm saying, I still love you," Draco answered sincerely. "And if given the chance, I'd like to put our mistakes right."

"And what about the opposition?" Hermione asked. "No-one approved before, they're even less likely to do so now."

"Sod everyone else," Draco said firmly. "Six years ago, we let everyone else get what they wanted, and I've been miserable ever since. I think it's time to take my life back. The only question is, do you want to be a part of it?"

"That's all I've ever wanted," Hermione admitted with a smile. "I love you, Draco. I always have, and I always will."

"I love you too, Hermione."

Closing the small gap between them, Draco pressed his lips against Hermione's. Hermione melted into the kiss, her heart thumping wildly at the familiar sensation of being in Draco's arms again. Lost in each other, the couple spent ten minutes making out like teenagers, before they finally pulled apart.

"What happens now?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know," Draco confessed. "But I do know, I'm not going to let us be parted again. We'll be together Hermione, whatever it takes."


	7. Chapter 7

Blaise groggily opened his eyes as he tried to recall the previous night. When a warm body shifted beside him, his memories started to return. After Draco had left them, he'd hit the strip club with Theo and Greg. The three of them had thoroughly enjoyed themselves immensely, and they only headed to the casino when Theo pointed out Draco would be waiting for them. When they'd arrived at the casino there'd been no sign of Draco, but Blaise didn't know if his best friend had ever shown up as he'd got chatting to one of the dancers in the strip club and had arranged to meet her for a drink. Leaving Theo and Greg to wait for Draco, Blaise had headed off to meet his new stripper friend, and one thing led to another and they'd ended up back in his room.

Turning over, Blaise grinned at the sight of the naked witch in his bed. However, when he got his eye on the clock beside the bed he swore when he realised he was running late. He and Draco had arranged to have breakfast together and have one last walk-through of the hotel, before Draco made a decision. Knowing he still had to convince his friend that Vegas was the right move for them to make, Blaise hopped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom.

By the time Blaise had returned to the bedroom, his stripper friend had woken up and was sitting up in the large bed.

"Hey," Blaise greeted with a smile as he grabbed his clothes and began to pull them on. "I would love to stay, but I'm running late for a meeting with my business partner."

"Maybe we can meet up later," the stripper, Carrie-Anne, purred as she stretched her body temptingly.

"You're on," Blaise said, unable to tear his eyes away from Carrie-Anne's bare breasts. "We can meet in the same bar as last night at one. I should be finished my business by then. We can have one final drink before I head home."

"I hope we can have more than a drink," Carrie-Anne replied with a seductive smile as she rose from the bed and slipped into the tiny dress she'd been wearing the previous evening.

"I'm sure we can manage more than a drink," Blaise vowed, pulling her into his arms and giving her a deep kiss.

Reluctantly, Blaise let her out of his arms after one kiss. It was so very tempting just to drag her back to bed and just leave a message for Draco cancelling their meeting, but he knew if he did that his friend would be less inclined to go along with his Vegas idea. Right now, Blaise needed to keep Draco sweet if he wanted to see his dream of building a hotel in Vegas come to fruition.

Reiterating his promise to meet Carrie-Anne for one final bit of fun before he headed home, Blaise ushered the witch out of his room and headed down to the breakfast room. When he arrived in the breakfast room, he quickly spotted Theo and Greg, but there was no sign of Draco and the girls. Breathing a sigh of relief that he'd arrived before Draco, Blaise grabbed a plate of food from the buffet and joined his friends.

"Did you both have fun last night?" Blaise asked, pouring himself some strong coffee from the pot on the table.

"Yeah," Greg answered. "It was a laugh."

"Draco wasn't mad that I ducked out last night was he?" Blaise checked, hoping he hadn't blown things with his partner the previous night.

"Not a clue," Theo replied with a shrug. "We never saw him again."

"He didn't show up in the casino?" Blaise frowned.

"Not while we were there," Theo answered. "I stayed a few hours, before heading back to the room to see if Daphne was back. When she was there, I spent the rest of the night with her."

"I was in the casino for an hour or so more, and I didn't see him either," Greg added. "Maybe he went back to his room and spent the rest of the evening with Astoria."

"Maybe," Blaise agreed.

Deciding it wasn't important where his friend had gotten to the previous evening, he carried on enjoying his breakfast. However, by the time he'd finished eating there was still no sign of Draco. By now it was nearly an hour past the time they'd arranged to meet, and Blaise was starting to get annoyed. He'd blown off a morning of hot sex for his partner, so the least he could do was show his bloody face.

"I'm going to go and see if I can raise Draco," Blaise announced as he finished his coffee.

"Maybe Astoria wore him out," Theo joked. "Daphne was feeling really frisky last night, maybe Astoria was as well."

"You managed to get up for breakfast," Blaise pointed out. Even though he wouldn't say as much to Theo, he figured that Draco would have much better stamina than Theo and was less likely to be worn out following a night of sex.

"Yeah, but Daphne decided to have a lie in," Theo retorted with a proud smirk.

"Well, lie-in or not, it's time Draco was up," Blaise said, getting to his feet.

Leaving his friends to enjoy their morning, Blaise headed back towards reception. It was only as he was about to board the lift that he realised he didn't know which room Draco was staying in. He knew they were all staying on the same floor, but he wasn't sure about room numbers. The only way he could remember his own room number was because it was printed on the key.

Heading over to reception, he grinned as he spotted the witch in duty was the same witch who'd checked them in. Hopefully he could charm her into telling him what room Draco was in, even though he was guessing it was against the hotel's policy. He'd never known a hotel give out guests details before, but he was confident his charm would win her over.

"Hi, I need to ask you a big favour," Blaise said, giving the pretty receptionist his most sincere smile. "I need to speak to my friend and business partner, and I can't remember which room he's in. I don't suppose you could tell me, could you?"

"We're not allowed to give out such information, Mr Zabini," the receptionist replied with a rueful shake of her head.

Blaise inwardly smirked at the fact she'd remembered his name, clearly he'd made an impression on the witch. "It's an emergency. Please, I won't tell anyone else. I'm sure you can even remember him arriving with me. Draco Malfoy, a tall, good looking blond."

"I remember Mr Malfoy," the receptionist said with a small smile.

"So you'll help me?" Blaise asked with an eager smile.

"Okay, I'll help you," the receptionist. "But only because I know you're genuinely his friend."

"You're an angel," Blaise said with a grin as the witch behind reception pulled out the booking book and flicked through it.

"Hmm," she muttered with a frown. "That's odd."

"What?"

"Mr Malfoy is down to occupy suite fifteen-ten, but he's also booked into another suite."

"He switched rooms?" Blaise asked, assuming Astoria had thrown some sort of tantrum and insisted they upgraded rooms.

"No, he's still got the key for suite fifteen-ten," the receptionist replied. "But in the early hours of this morning he checked into the honeymoon suite with his wife."

"Wife?" Blaise's eyes widened, before understanding dawned on him. "The stupid bugger, he's only gone and married her on the quiet. What floor is the honeymoon suite on?"

"Eighteenth, you'll be able to find the room as it's the only one on that floor," the receptionist supplied.

"Thank you so much," Blaise said, giving the receptionist a smile before stalking off towards the lifts.

As he headed up to the honeymoon suite, Blaise couldn't help but marvel at Draco's stupidity. He knew his best friend was unhappy with the fuss surrounding his upcoming wedding, but to get married in secret was just ludicrous. Even though he'd somehow convinced Astoria to marry him on the quiet, it didn't mean things would stay quiet. Narcissa wasn't going to stand for her only son eloping and getting married without her, and he doubted Astoria would be too happy when they got back home. Chances were all Draco had done was make sure he ended up married to Astoria quicker than he'd intended.

"Idiot," Blaise muttered to himself as he reached the eighteenth floor and disembarked from the lift.

Easily finding the honeymoon suite, he knocked on the door. When there was no answer after a few minutes, he knocked again, only louder. A third and final knock got results and Blaise heard the voice of his best friend telling him he'd be there in a minute. When the door opened, Blaise was confronted with his best friend. All Draco was wearing was his trousers, and judging from his dishevelled hair, he'd only just got out of bed when Blaise had knocked on the door.

"Blaise, what are you doing here?" Draco asked with a frown.

"I think the question is, what are you doing here?" Blaise returned, pushing past his friend and entering the luxurious honeymoon suite. "Nice room."

"It is," Draco agreed, shutting the door behind Blaise and following him into the living area.

"Did you honestly think this through, Draco?" Blaise questioned, settling himself on the large sofa. "This has to be your stupidest idea yet."

"Thanks for your support, Blaise," Draco muttered. "Granted it's come slightly out of nowhere, but it the right decision."

"The right decision?" Blaise repeated with a snort. "How is this the right decision? It's madness, Draco."

Before Draco had a chance to respond, Blaise heard movement behind him. Assuming it was Astoria emerging from the bedroom, Blaise twisted round on the sofa. However, instead of finding Draco's leggy blonde fiancée, he found Draco's beautiful, brunette former girlfriend standing in the doorway, wearing just Draco's shirt.

"Hermione!" Blaise looked between Hermione and Draco, trying to comprehend what was happening. "What's going on Draco?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Draco questioned with a shrug as he walked over to Hermione and wrapped his arm around her waist. "We got married last night."

"How the hell did it happen?" Blaise asked as Draco led Hermione over to the sofa and the pair of them sat down. "Did you plan this?"

"No," Draco replied with a shake of his head. "Until last night we hadn't seen each other for years."

"And what, you met up again and just happened to get married?" Blaise questioned in disbelief.

"It wasn't like that," Draco protested. "It was fate."

"Fate?" Blaise arched his eyebrow and looked at his friend as though he was mad.

"After leaving you lot last night, I could have easily had a drink in one of the bars in this hotel," Draco explained. "But I chose to visit one of the other hotels, the very one Hermione happened to be staying in."

"I would call that coincidence rather than fate," Blaise muttered.

"And then there was the fact I happened to choose the exact bar she was in," Draco continued. "I was initially going to try and rooftop cocktail bar, but at the last minute I changed my mind and ended up in the bar where Hermione was sitting. The way I look at it, fate drew us together. And once I set eyes on Hermione, I knew I wasn't going to be foolish enough to let her go again," he finished, turning his head slightly to smile at Hermione.

"Okay, that I get," Blaise conceded. "But why get married?"

"We had a bit too much to drink," Draco replied with a sheepish shrug.

Blaise gave the couple a calculating look, trying to decide if they were being honest with him. "Too much to drink? Neither of you look drunk."

"That was last night," Draco argued.

"You don't look hung over either," Blaise added. "Stop the excuses, Draco," he said when Draco opened his mouth to speak. "I know you too well. You're not the sort to get so drunk you accidentally get married, and while I don't know Hermione very well, I don't think it's her style either."

Draco turned back to face Hermione, who gave him a shrug and a small smile. "Okay," he said, turning back to Blaise. "We weren't drunk. We knew what we were doing. We were talking about getting back together and went for a walk. When we saw the chapel, we had our answer."

"You do know how hard this is going to be, don't you?" Blaise asked the pair. He actually approved of Draco following his heart, even if he did think his best friend could have gone about things differently.

"We know things aren't going to be easy," Hermione said as she took hold of Draco's hand. "But we're going to handle this together."

"Yes, we are," Draco agreed, giving his wife a warm smile.

"You're going to need each other to get through this," Blaise predicted. "No-one is going to approve of this."

"We're aware of that, Blaise," Draco said with a sigh. "But I was hoping I would have my best friend's support. It was only a few weeks ago that you were encouraging me to go after Hermione."

"You do have my support, but I have to point out how hard things are going to be," Blaise replied. "You haven't just gotten back together, you've gotten married. And don't forget Draco, you came to Vegas with a different fiancée."

"I have not forgotten about Astoria," Draco said with a grimace.

"As long as you're prepared to face her wrath," Blaise said. "I promise I'll be there for you both. Just for the record, are you going with the whole drunken excuse?"

"As long as you don't drop us in it," Draco replied, levelling a serious look at his best friend. "I think certain people will take the news better if they thought we were inebriated. Although we are going to make it clear that we don't regret what we did. Finally, we're together and we couldn't be happier."

Despite the circumstances, Blaise had to smile. It had been a long time since he'd seen Draco so happy, and even with everything that would inevitably follow for the pair, he was confident they would survive.

"In that case congratulations," Blaise said with a grin as he got to his feet. "I'll leave you to decide your next move, but I would advise dealing with Astoria as soon as possible."

"Thanks Blaise," Draco said, smiling at his friend.

Still slightly shocked by his discovery, Blaise left the newlyweds to get on with their day. It looked like his hotel plans were on hold for the minute. Draco had bigger things to worry about then checking out the rest of the hotel. He had to deal with Astoria, and Blaise didn't envy him that task one little bit. Who knew how she was going to react when she found out the wizard she was due to marry had gone and married the witch he truly loved.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N - The rating of this story is moving up to M because of a bit of sauce in this chapter. It's not too racy, but I'd rather up the rating than have someone complain and get the story taken down.**

* * *

Getting married had never been Draco and Hermione's plan when they'd reconnected. After their initial conversation, where they admitted they still wanted to be together, the pair had enjoyed a few more drinks together as they discussed things further. They'd know it was going to be hard restarting their relationship, but they'd been determined that they were going to stop letting other people rule their lives. They were going to be happy, no matter what anyone else had to say about it.

As they were discussing the best way for them to be together, the pair had decided to take a walk. It was only when they spotted the chapel that the wild idea of getting married occurred to them. Of course they both knew it wasn't the smartest solution given Draco's engagement to Astoria, but they also recognised it was the best way to stop people from interfering in their lives. After all, there was nothing anyone could do once they were married.

After weighing up their options, the couple had decided to follow their hearts and go ahead with the marriage. Luckily everything they needed was inside the chapel, and they even bought a pair of gorgeous white gold wedding rings which they planned on getting engraved when they returned home. Once they were married, the couple returned to the hotel Draco was staying at and booked into the honeymoon suite. Even though it was the early hours of the morning, the couple did very little sleeping as they caught up on being separated for six years.

In fact they'd only had a few hours' sleep before Blaise had interrupted them just as they were about to indulge in another round of lovemaking before getting up and facing the world. However, they were now up and the world was knocking on their door, waiting for them to deal with the consequences of their actions from the previous night.

"So, I guess we should get up and get dressed," Hermione finally said with a sigh as she made to get up off the sofa.

"Not so fast," Draco replied, catching Hermione by the hand and pulling her back down beside him. "It's still not that late, so I'm sure we can spare another hour to fully get ourselves ready to face the world."

Hermione chuckled at Draco's suggestion. "And just how would you suggest we spend that hour?" she asked coyly.

"For a start, you'll need to remove my shirt," Draco answered with a cheeky grin.

"I think I can manage that," Hermione purred. Slowly she unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing, although she kept the material draped over her breasts as she unbuttoned the top. "How's that?" she asked when the shirt was fully open.

"Nope, it's not quite right," Draco said with a thoughtful shake of his head. Giving Hermione a cheeky grin, he quickly spread the material of his shirt, so Hermione's naked body was on full display. "Much better," he announced, his hand moving to cup her right breast.

"Not so fast," Hermione said, slapping Draco's hand away. "I think there's some clothing you need to shed as well."

Following Hermione's gaze to his lap, Draco grinned as he unzipped his trousers and quickly pulled them down his legs and kicked them away. Since he'd just pulled the trousers on to answer the door, he was completely naked underneath, and given the fact they'd been messing around before Blaise arrived and Hermione was practically naked beside him, he was already ready for action.

"Better?" he asked when Hermione stared at his exposed manhood with obvious lust in her deep brown eyes.

"Much," Hermione answered, licking her lips.

Settling back on the large sofa, Draco gave Hermione a seductive grin. Knowing just what her new husband wanted, Hermione moved so she was straddling Draco's waist. The second Hermione was hovering above him, Draco's attention fell to her exposed breasts. His mouth latched onto one, while his hand cupped the other one. Hermione let out a pleasurable moan as she grabbed Draco's manhood in her hand. With ease, she altered her position slightly and sheathed herself on him with a satisfied groan.

Hermione was in heaven as she revelled in the feeling of being joined with Draco once again. In the six years they'd been apart she hadn't exactly been a nun, nor had she been promiscuous, but nothing she'd experienced in those years compared to being intimate with Draco. He was the love of her life, and nothing compared to making love with the wizard she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

"I love you," she whispered, covering Draco's lips with hers as he lifted his head from her breasts.

"I love you too," Draco returned amidst heated kisses.

With their lips barely moving more than a few inches apart, Hermione and Draco began to make love. Losing themselves in each other they forgot all about what was waiting for them outside of the honeymoon suite as their only focus was what was happening right at that moment. All they cared about was each other, and the pleasure they were bringing to one another as they sensually made love.

With whispered words of love, the young couple lost themselves in their passion. Finally, with almost simultaneous cries the pair tumbled into oblivion as their orgasms hit. Breathing heavily from their exertions, the pair remained wrapped in each other's arms for several minutes afterwards as they recovered.

"Now we really need to get moving," Hermione muttered against Draco's neck.

"I guess so," Draco reluctantly agreed. "But first we need a shower."

"Any excuse for more action," Hermione said with a chuckle as she slowly removed herself from Draco's lap and got to her feet.

"I did just mean to clean ourselves up, but if you insist," Draco replied. With a wicked grin, he jumped to his feet and before Hermione had a chance to react he'd swept her up in his arms and was carrying her towards the bathroom.

Hermione chuckled at Draco's behaviour, but she didn't protest as he started the large shower in the corner of the room, and pulled her inside with him. One lengthy shower later, during which they made love again and then got washed, the pair emerged from the bathroom and began to get dressed.

"What now?" Hermione asked once they were both redressed in the clothes they'd been wearing the previous night.

"I know we said we would deal with everything together, but I think I need to handle Astoria on my own," Draco answered. "I owe her a proper explanation, and I don't think it's a good idea for me to rub her nose in it by turning up with you by my side."

"I agree," Hermione said with a nod. She knew she would likely have to face Astoria at one point, but she agreed that now wasn't the time. "Should I wait here, or do I go back to my hotel and get packed up? You could meet me when you're finished here and we can face my friends together."

"That sounds like a plan," Draco agreed. "Although, I really don't know how long I'll be."

"You take as long as you need," Hermione said with a small smile. "If my friends insist on going home before we have a chance to talk, we'll just have to tell them what's going on when we return home. I think Astoria is the priority here, she's the one we've probably hurt by doing this."

"Don't for one minute think we've broken her heart, Hermione," Draco said. "Yes, what we've done isn't great for Astoria, but it'll not devastate her. The only thing she'll be concerned about is that her opportunity of becoming a Malfoy has vanished. She doesn't love me, and she won't be broken hearted to lose me."

"Even so, she's going to be hurt," Hermione pointed out. "No woman in their right mind wouldn't be hurt if their fiancé ran off and married his ex-girlfriend while they were away for the weekend. Even if she doesn't love you, we've still hurt her, and we'll have definitely bruised her ego."

"Now that, I can agree with," Draco said with a nod. Taking a deep breath, he checked they hadn't forgotten anything before turning to his wife. "Are you ready?"

Hermione nodded and took hold of Draco's hand. Together the couple left the honeymoon suite and walked towards the lift at the end of the corridor. Before they entered the lift, they shared a tender kiss. Vowing they would see each other as soon as possible, they entered the lift and began their descent down to the floor where Draco was supposed to be staying. While Hermione carried on down to reception, where she would check them out of the honeymoon suite and then head back to her own hotel, Draco headed for the room he shared with Astoria.

When he let himself into the room, he was lucky to escape a vase crashing into his head. Luckily his years of playing seeker at Hogwarts had left him with quick reflexes and he ducked as the vase shattered against the wall just above his head.

"What the hell?" he cried, looking up to find a fuming Astoria standing glaring at him with a second vase in her hand.

"You bastard," she screeched, launching the second vase at his head.

"For Merlin's sake Astoria, I'll be billed for the damage," Draco cried as he dodged the second vase.

"A few broken vases are the least of your problems," Astoria spat. "Where the hell were you last night? I sat up for hours, waiting for you. And don't say you were with the others, because I know you weren't. Theo was with Daphne, Blaise was with some tart and Greg was alone in the casino before he went back to his room by himself. So where were you Draco?"

"Put the vase down and I'll explain," Draco said, warily eyeing Astoria as she'd picked up yet another vase.

"This better be good," Astoria hissed as she put the vase down.

"It's not really," Draco admitted with a sigh. "I'm sorry Astoria, but you won't like what I've got to tell you."

"You slept with someone else," Astoria whispered as she sat down on the bed. To be honest it wasn't as if she'd been entirely faithful to Draco since they'd been together, but she hadn't strayed since their engagement.

"I did," Draco confirmed as he joined Astoria on the bed. "But I did so much more as well."

"I don't want to know details," Astoria replied with a grimace. "I won't deny I'm hurt Draco, but I can forgive you." Reaching for Draco's hand, she froze when she spotted a white gold band on his left hand. "What's that?"

"That's the so much more," Draco said. "I got married Astoria."

"This is just unbelievable," Astoria declared with a hysterical sob. "I come to Vegas and my fiancé runs off and marries a tart. Don't tell me you met her in the strip club."

"I didn't meet her in the strip club," Draco answered. "In fact, I already knew her. I didn't marry a stranger Astoria, I married Hermione."

Draco braced himself for Astoria's reaction, but for what seemed like an age she just looked at him with a blank face. Just as he was wondering what he could say to make things easier for her, he spotted the rage forming in her blue eyes. With a wild cry, Astoria suddenly launched herself at him, her long nails scratching at every bit of skin she could reach as she screamed bloody murder at him.

"Astoria, stop it," Draco ordered, trying to shield himself from her attack.

"Bastard," Astoria cried, clawing at Draco's face. "You complete bastard. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you."

As Astoria continued to claw at him, Draco managed to grab hold of her wrists and pull her off him. He hated being rough with her, but he couldn't get to his wand to get her off him and he wasn't going to let her tear his face completely to shreds.

"Astoria, calm down," he said sharply, giving her a brief shake. "We can talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," Astoria hissed as she pulled her hands from Draco's grasp.

Draco prepared himself for another onslaught, but instead Astoria got to her feet and calmly smoothed her dress down. Breathing a sigh of relief that she was being reasonable and would hopefully now hear him out, Draco also got to his feet. However, before he could approach his ex-fiancée, she grabbed her wand from the bedside table and had it pointing at him.

"I hate you Draco Malfoy," she hissed. "You're going to regret treating me like this. Enjoy your mud-blood while you can, because she's going to be the ruin of you."

"Don't call her that," Draco warned in a menacing voice.

Instead of responding Astoria merely let out a short, bitter laugh. She then lowered her wand until it was aimed at Draco's crotch and before he could say or do anything, she let off a nasty stinging hex. Draco cursed loudly and crumpled to the floor as the hex hit him right between the legs.

"Serves you right," Astoria muttered as she magically packed her bags. "I hope you can't use it for a long time. Not that you know how to use it anyway. I might as well tell you before I leave that you were the worst lover I've ever had. You're pathetic Draco, and that little mud-blood deserves all she gets marrying a loser like you."

With Draco still lying on the floor, clutching his crotch in agony, Astoria swept past the blond wizard, making sure to 'accidentally' knock him with her foot as she stepped over him. Taking one final look at Draco, she hurried out of the room before her tears began to fall again. Left alone in the hotel room, Draco slowly got back to his feet as he began to recover. Wishing he'd been able to handle the situation better, Draco headed into the bathroom to check he hadn't sustained any damage to his tackle, before he got ready to go and meet Hermione so they could tell her friends. With any luck things would run smoother with Hermione's friends, and then they would be able to go home and face the hardest task of all - breaking the news to Draco's parents.


	9. Chapter 9

Returning to her hotel, Hermione decided to check and see if any of her friends were still having breakfast. She didn't see the need to broadcast her business with the entire group, so she was hoping to catch Harry and Ron and arrange to meet them in a little while. As luck would have it when she entered the dining room, Hermione spotted Ron and Harry right away. The pair were sitting at a table with Ginny and Lavender, and George and Angelina were also at the same table.

"There she is," Angelina cried, spotting Hermione as she entered the room. "And what happened to you last night? Don't try the early night excuse, because you're still wearing last night's clothes."

"Did you get lucky?" George asked with a mischievous grin.

"You could say that," Hermione replied, unable to help the smile that spread over her own face. "But I don't want to discuss it here. I was hoping we could meet in the bar before you all headed home."

"Before we head home. Are you not joining us?" Harry asked with a frown.

"Please don't say you're staying on with whichever loser you picked up last night," Ron moaned. "That's so tacky."

"I'm going home today, just not with you lot," Hermione replied. "But before you go, I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure, we'll be in the main bar in about an hour," Harry said. "You can talk to us then."

Thanking Harry, Hermione extended the invitation to George and Angelina as well, before heading off to her room to pack. Packing took all of five minutes using magic, so she spent the rest of her time staring out of the window as she wondered how Draco was getting along. Half an hour later she got her answer when there was a knock on the door and her husband entered the room.

"What the hell?" Hermione was immediately worried when she spotted Draco's face sporting several nasty red gashes. It looked like he'd been clawed at by a wild animal. "What happened?"

"Astoria," Draco answered. "She didn't take things well. She almost scratched my eyes out, then she hexed my balls."

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked in concern as her eyes flitted down to Draco's crotch.

"A bit sore, but everything is still attached," Draco replied with a slight smile. "I suppose it could be worse."

"I suppose it could," Hermione agreed. "Hold still and I'll sort your face."

"Thanks. I hate performing medicinal magic on myself, I'm always scared something will go wrong and I'll end up scarred."

Hermione rolled her eyes slightly as she got to work smoothing out the fierce scratch marks Astoria had left all down Draco's face. After a couple of minutes work, Draco was back to his normal self.

"How did things go with your friends?" Draco asked as Hermione slid her wand back into her bag.

"I didn't tell them anything yet," Hermione replied. "They're waiting for us in the bar."

"How do you think it'll go?" Draco questioned. Personally he couldn't care less what Hermione's friends had to say, but he knew their opinions mattered to her, and he wanted everything to run as smoothly as possible for Hermione's sake. They were going to face enough opposition from his parents, without having to contend with her friends as well.

"I'm not expecting much to be honest," Hermione admitted. "Ron and Ginny were amongst the most vocal objectors last time, and I doubt that will have changed. George and Angelina will be there, and I'm confident they'll both support us. As for Harry, I'm hoping he can see things from my perspective."

"And go against Weasley and Red?" Draco scoffed. "I don't want to burst your bubble Hermione, but I don't see that happening. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Potter's a bad guy, I just don't think he's capable of standing up to people and forming his own opinions. He's always been easily swayed by others."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, wondering what observations Draco had made about her best friend.

"Take what happened when we started school," Draco said. "I'd actually met Potter in Diagon Alley, and we got along fine. However, by the time we re-met up at school he'd befriended Weasley and no doubt heard how all Slytherins were evil, especially us Malfoys. I admit when I extended the hand of friendship, I was a bit high-handed about it, but he just shot me down. He didn't even know me, and he'd decided I was no good because of what someone else had said. And it was the same with other people. If Dumbledore or the Weasleys said someone was bad, he just believed them. When have you ever known him judge someone for themselves? I'm sorry Hermione, but unless he's changed a hell of a lot I can't see him offering a different opinion to Weasley and Red."

"You could be right," Hermione admitted quietly. "Although you've clearly given this a lot of thought. It really bothers you, doesn't it? The way Harry dismissed your offer of friendship."

"It's not one of my best memories," Draco confessed with a shrug. "I may have been a brat when I was eleven, but I was still just a child. I was starting Hogwarts and I just wanted to make some friends. Sure I had Vince and Greg with me, but at that time they were just some kids I knew through my father. It wasn't until later that we become really close and we got to know Theo and Blaise. At that point, I just wanted to find my feet and make some friends. I'd thought since I'd already met Potter, he might want to be friends. I didn't expect to be shot down so publicly. After that, it was all too easy to hate him."

"I can relate to that," Hermione said quietly. "That's all I wanted when I started Hogwarts. Luckily I got friends in the end, I just hope they're good enough friends to stick by me now."

"If they're not, they're not worth having," Draco replied as he pulled Hermione into his arms and gave her a gentle kiss. "Now are you ready to go and face the music?"

Hermione gave Draco another quick kiss before nodding her head. By her reckoning they would have time to break their news to her friends, before checking out and heading back to Draco's hotel to see what was happening over there. Chances were, Hermione would come face to face with Astoria, but she didn't want to worry about that right now. Right now, she was more concerned with Harry and Ron.

Hand in hand, Hermione and Draco left Hermione's hotel room and headed down to the main bar. Entering the room, Hermione easily spotted her friends sitting in the corner. As they made their way over to them, it was easy to see when they spotted Draco as one by one they each stared in total shock at the blond wizard at her side.

"No bloody way," Ron grumbled when Hermione reached her friends. "What's he doing here?"

"Always a joy to see you, Weasley," Draco said sarcastically.

"Now I see why you went missing last night," Angelina remarked. "Sit and tell us what's going on."

"Do we even want to know what's going on?" Ron grouched as Draco and Hermione settled down beside George and Angelina.

"I do," George said. "I take it, you two are back together."

"We are," Hermione confirmed as she grasped Draco's hand in hers. "We ran into each other last night and decided to give it another chance."

"But aren't you engaged?" Lavender asked Draco.

"I was, but not anymore," Draco replied.

"Now, we're married," Hermione declared, deciding it was best to get everything out in the open right away.

"Married?" Ron exploded, turning a nasty shade of red. "Are you nuts, Hermione? Have you forgotten what he did to you?"

"Did to me? Draco didn't do anything to me," Hermione argued. "We were manipulated when we were grieving and we made a mistake."

"Please, losing the baby was the best thing to ever happen to you," Ron scoffed.

Without thinking, Hermione leapt to her feet, leaned across the table and slapped Ron across the face. "How dare you. Losing my baby was the worst moment of my life. It tore my life apart, and now I'm finally starting to put it back together."

"No, you're tearing it back down again," Ron snapped. "You got your life on track when you were finally free of him. When you were with him your life was a mess. Without him, you never would have been attacked. Then there's your job. Do you really think it's a coincidence that as soon as you ended things with him, you started to achieve things?"

"My career was just starting when I was first with Draco," Hermione protested. "And I progressed so quickly in recent years as I've dedicated my life to my career. Without Draco, I didn't have a private life, so I focused on work and it paid off. I now have a brilliant career, and now I've got a love life again."

"Don't be so bloody naïve, Hermione," Ron snorted. "You weren't getting anywhere because the Ministry didn't like your association with him. Sure, his money and fancy lawyer got him off his charges after the war, but the stain lives on. No matter what, he'll always be a Death Eater. And that's why you've just flushed your career down the toilet. That new promotion you were telling us about, it won't happen now."

"Don't be so ridiculous," Hermione replied. "The promotion is already mine. My personal life will not affect my job."

"Wait and see," Ron sneered as he got to his feet. "You're going to lose everything, Hermione, and I for one won't be there to pick up the pieces. We warned you that getting involved with him would ruin your life, and now you're going to see how right we were. I'm just sorry that you didn't listen to us when you had the chance."

Without another word, Ron turned and stalked off. Getting to her feet, Lavender gave Hermione a disgusted look before she followed after her boyfriend.

"Well that went well," Hermione muttered. "Harry, Ginny, do you have anything to say."

"Yes," Ginny said quickly before Harry even had a chance to open his mouth. "I want to know why you've done this to me."

"Done what to you?" Hermione asked with a frown. In Hermione's opinion the only person that could be considered hard done by in all of this was Astoria.

"This," Ginny said angrily, gesturing to where Draco and Hermione sat holding hands. "You just had to go and spoil my hen night, didn't you? Now all anyone will be interested in is you two. No-one will remember this for what it was, which was mine and Harry's weekend. They'll just remember it was weekend you two stupidly got married."

"You're jealous?" Hermione declared with a laugh. "Grow up, Ginny. This isn't about you. Not everything revolves around you."

"I hope Ron's right," Ginny snapped as she got to her feet. "I hope your life falls to pieces. And like Ron, I'm not sticking around to pick up the pieces. You're on your own Hermione, it's just you and your Death Eater."

As Ginny turned and stalked out the bar, Harry sheepishly got to his feet. Muttering an apology, he hurried off after his fiancée. Hermione shook her head at Harry's actions, hardly able to believe what she'd just witnessed. Not only had Harry not stood up for her, he hadn't even voiced his opinions. He'd just let Ron and Ginny vent, before rushing off after Ginny like an obedient puppy.

"I don't know what to say," George said a bit sheepishly.

"I do, your brother and sister are out of line," Angelina said. "Sorry George, but there was no need for that. They were horrid to Hermione."

"I agree," George said with a nod. "Right now, I'm ashamed to call them family."

"I always knew they wouldn't like my news," Hermione said with a sigh.

"Balls to them," Angelina said firmly as she gave Hermione a smile. "There's only two people that matter here, and it's you two. If you're happy, and you certainly look it, then don't listen to what anyone else has to say. It's your life, I say you live it how you want."

"Here, here," George agreed. "And for the record, we're happy for you Hermione."

"Really?" Hermione checked, taking in the couple and seeing that they were being genuine in their congratulations.

"Really," Angelina confirmed. "You're our friend Hermione, and we just want you to be happy. We all know you haven't been too happy these last six years, but it looks like that's all set to change."

"It is," Hermione said, exchanging smiles with Draco. "We're right back where we should have been all those years ago. And this time, nothing will tear us apart."

Angelina and George offered more congratulations and the two couples arranged to meet up for a proper get together once they were back home, before they headed off for check-out. Hermione also headed off to grab her bags and check-out, while Draco waited for her in the bar. Obviously with the whole party checking out, reception was pretty hectic and Hermione was stuck in a queue as she waited to check out. Although word of her marriage had spread fast and several people asked her about it. Luckily no-one had such extreme reactions as Ron and Ginny, and some people like Charlie, Neville and Luna congratulated her.

Just as Hermione had checked out and was about to head back to the bar to grab Draco so they could return to his hotel, Harry popped up and asked if he could have a quick word. Wanting to know what her best friend thought of things, Hermione agreed and they stepped out of the front door to get a bit of privacy.

"I'm so sorry for Ginny," Harry began. "She had no right to talk to you like that, neither did Ron."

"I'm a big girl, I can get over it," Hermione replied with a shrug. "Although I would like to hear what you think."

"You know I was just as against you being with Malfoy as the others all those years ago," Harry said. "However, I've seen how you were affected when things ended. These last six years it's been as though you're just going through the motions of living your life. You work far too much, and your personal life is non-existent. I miss my happy, vibrant best friend. I lost her six years ago, and I'm just hoping this brings her back. I have no idea if you and Malfoy will work, but if he makes you happy, then I hope it does. All I want is for you to be happy, Hermione."

"I am happy," Hermione said. "I love Draco, I always have. I know things aren't going to be easy for us, but it'll be worth it. I'm just pleased I've got you on my side."

"Always," Harry vowed. "I'll talk to Ginny and Ron when they calm down. But no matter what happens, you're my best friend, Hermione. I love you, and I will never abandon you."

Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry, hoping he could keep his promises. She didn't want to lose him, but deep down she knew it was a very real possibility. It was easy for him to say he was going to stand by her now, but what happened once they got home and Ginny and Ron refused to back down? Hermione didn't think he'd go against his best friend and his fiancée, therefore she would be the one missing out. All she could hope was that Ron and Ginny calmed down enough so that Harry never had to make a choice between Hermione and the Weasleys. Somehow losing Ron and Ginny didn't seem half as bad as losing Harry.


	10. Chapter 10

After saying goodbye to Harry, Hermione returned to Draco and the couple headed back to the hotel he'd been staying at. When they entered the hotel lobby they were unfortunate enough to arrive just as Theo and Daphne were checking out. Blaise was also in the lobby, along with Greg, but there was no sign of Astoria. Hermione was just hoping the younger witch had already departed Vegas and she could put off facing her for a few more days.

When Draco spotted his friends checking out, he wondered if he could get Hermione out of the way before Daphne spotted her, but unfortunately he didn't have the time. As he was working out the best way to leave the lobby without being spotted, Daphne turned round and spotted them. As she marched over to the pair, eyes blazing furiously, Draco knew he was in trouble.

"You git," Daphne spat, slapping Draco across the face. "How the hell could you do this to Astoria? She's absolutely devastated."

"I'm sorry things worked out this way," Draco said, rubbing the side of his face to get the feeling back in his cheek. "But we all knew Astoria and I were hardly a love match. It was a business arrangement at best."

"That still didn't give you the right to do this to her," Daphne hissed before she turned her focus on Hermione. "And you, you little tart. I thought you were better than this, but it turns out you're just a horrible cow willing to sabotage someone else's happiness just to get what you want."

"We never meant for things to happen this way," Hermione said quietly. "I'm so sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, bitch," Daphne snarled as she raised her hand to slap Hermione.

While Draco hadn't managed to stop Daphne hitting him, he'd been on alert from the second Daphne had turned to Hermione, and he managed to grab hold of Daphne's wrist before she touched Hermione.

"Don't," he muttered menacingly to his friend. "If you hit my wife, you'll regret it. And while we're on the subject, if you talk to her like that again, I'll hex you so that you can't talk at all."

"Truth hurts, does it Draco?" Daphne sneered as she yanked her wrist out of the blond's grasp. "Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of talking to either you or your wife_," __s_he sneered. "The pair of you are dead to me. Come on Theo, we're going."

Without giving either Draco or Hermione a second glance, Daphne turned on her heel and strode off to the port key room. Picking up the bags, Theo gave Draco a resigned shrug.

"Sorry, I have to go," he told his friend. "We can talk later. But for the record, I think you're a prick for doing this to Astoria. However, it's your life and know you were never happy with Astoria. I just hope you're happy now."

"I am," Draco confirmed, before Theo hurried off after his girlfriend. Turning to Greg, Draco waited for his oldest friend's opinions on things. "Well," he prompted when Greg remained quiet.

"Congratulations," Greg said quietly. "I can't say I approve of the way you handled things Draco, but I'm glad you finally went after what you truly wanted. And I'm sorry if I wasn't as supportive as I should have been the first time you two were together. Maybe if we'd all just kept out of things, you two would have stayed together and all this mess could have been avoided."

"Too late for ifs and buts," Draco said with a shrug. "In an ideal world, it would be best if things weren't so messed up, but life isn't always straightforward. We've now just got to deal with the mess we've made the best way we can."

"And we will, we'll do it together," Hermione said, slipping her hand into Draco's.

"Good luck," Greg offered as he picked up his bag. "Something tells me the pair of you are going to need it."

"He's right," Blaise said as Greg followed after Theo and Daphne so he could also take a port key and get home. "All this is going to explode when you get home. Have you even thought about what happens next?"

"No," Draco admitted. "But like we told you, this was unexpected. We were drunk and didn't think things through thoroughly."

"I believe you didn't think things through," Blaise retorted. "But we've already established that I know you weren't drunk, so let's drop that act when we're alone. So what happens next?"

"We go home and face the music," Draco replied. "I take Astoria has already left."

Blaise nodded. "Yeah. She told Daphne what happened, before heading home. Daphne only hung around as long in the hopes of seeing you and giving you a good slap."

"She managed that alright," Draco muttered. "What about you? Are you ready to come home?"

"I've got a few things to take care of first," Blaise said. "But I'll be back for work tomorrow."

"Good, because I was thinking of taking the day off," Draco said. "Hermione and I need time to try and work out what's going on."

"Why don't you take the week," Blaise generously offered. "I'm sure you'll still have a lot on your plate when you return, but at least you'll not have to worry about juggling the business and your private life for the first few days."

"I'd appreciate that Blaise," Draco said, giving his friend and partner a thankful smile. "And when I return, we can discuss our future plans and see if Vegas is in them."

Blaise nodded his agreement, and after the two wizards had arranged to speak when Blaise got back to England, Draco and Hermione got Draco checked out and the pair arranged to travel back home. It wasn't until the pair arrived back in Draco's office that they realised they hadn't talked about what happened next. Not only the long term, but the short term as well.

"I don't know about you, but I'm knackered," Draco said, checking the time and finding that because of the time difference it was evening in London, while it had been lunchtime in Vegas. "How about we go back to mine, grab something to eat and fall into bed. It wasn't as if we got much sleep last night."

"No, we didn't," Hermione agreed with a grin. "I like your plan. We can talk properly in the morning."

"When do you go back to work?" Draco checked. He could remember Hermione saying she'd taken a few days holiday, but he couldn't quite remember how many days she said she would be off for.

"Wednesday," Hermione replied. "Normally, I would have popped into work and see if I can take the rest of the week off, but there's this promotion to think about."

"Heading back to work on Wednesday is fine," Draco reassured his wife. "That gives us two whole days to talk about the future and prepare how we're going to deal with everyone."

"What fun," Hermione muttered. Dealing with people was the part she was least looking forward to, but at the end of the day no-one else mattered but her and Draco.

Heading off to Draco's penthouse, the couple grabbed a quick bite to eat before they fell into bed. Of course they couldn't resist making love one more time before they snuggled down in Draco's large bed and drifted off into a deep sleep as their time in Vegas caught up with them.

**.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.**

Waking up with Hermione snuggled up beside him made Draco the happiest he'd been in years. In fact the last time he'd woken up feeling so content had been back before he and Hermione had split up all those years ago. It was before the attack and the miscarriage, and all the other stuff that had totally screwed up their relationship.

Watching Hermione peacefully sleeping beside him, Draco vowed that this time would be different. Of course, now they were married things were different anyway and they couldn't just walk away from each other, but Draco still knew they would have to be tougher if they really wanted to be happy. The only way they were going to get the happy ever after they desired was to stick together in the face of all the adversity they would face, and Draco knew they would face a hell of a lot over the coming months. Things weren't going to be easy for the couple, but if they stood together, they could survive anything.

Draco lay watching Hermione, until the brunette witch began to stir beside him. When she opened her eyes, her face immediately lit up with a wide smile as she found Draco watching her.

"Hi," she murmured.

"Hi," Draco returned, leaning over and gently pressing his lips against Hermione's. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"Breakfast would be good." Sitting up, Hermione glanced over at the clock and chuckled slightly. "Although lunch might be more appropriate, it's after midday."

"Only fifteen minutes," Draco replied with a shrug. "I don't suppose it really matters what meal it is."

"No, I don't suppose it does," Hermione agreed as she swung her legs out of bed.

Within fifteen minutes the couple were dressed and ready for the day ahead. With coming straight from Vegas, Hermione had fresh clothes to wear as like always she'd packed too much for a simple weekend away. Heading into the kitchen, they managed to rustle up a baked potato and some salad, which they ate as they started to talk about the future.

"I think first things first, we need to decide where we're going to live," Draco said. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend another night apart."

"Me either," Hermione replied with a smile. "I think it would be nice to get our own place, but for now it's easier to just move into one of our places."

"Yeah, that would be easier," Draco agreed with a nod. "Which one?"

"I can't really see you living in my tiny flat," Hermione said with a chuckle.

"I will, if that's where you want to stay," Draco replied immediately.

Hermione tilted her head to study Draco, not sure if he was being serious. "You would live in a tiny flat, just to be with me?"

"I would." Draco nodded and reached across the table to take hold of Hermione's hand. "Being with you is all I've ever wanted, and I don't care where we live as long as we're together."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but logically your place it probably a better choice," Hermione said. "Unless you don't want Crookshanks and I living with you?"

"Crookshanks is still going strong?" Draco checked, surprised to find Hermione still had her cat. Crookshanks had been getting on when they were first together, and that was six years ago.

"Yeah, he's still going," Hermione replied with a smile as she thought of her cat. "In fact, I probably need to go and check on him today. He's been alone all weekend, and he'll need some attention."

"We can go once we've finished eating," Draco said. "In fact, we could pack up your stuff while we were there. It'll be easier to make plans if we're both settled here."

"I guess it will be," Hermione said with a nod as they finished lunch.

However, before they'd even managed to leave the kitchen their plans were derailed. Draco's floo network sounded as though someone was going to come through, but considering he had it locked, no-one could actually get through to the penthouse. Expecting whoever it was to try again, or try using the floo to make a call, Draco headed towards the room where the floo was located. However, before he made it to the floo network there was a loud knocking on his front door.

"Draco," the loud voice of his mother, Narcissa, called through the door. "Draco Malfoy, open up at once."

Knowing his mother had a key, and would just let herself in, Draco opened the front door. The second the door was open, Narcissa pushed her way into the penthouse, followed by an enraged looking Lucius. Draco glanced over to where Hermione was standing in the kitchen doorway, and spotted how nervous his wife was at the prospect of facing his parents.

Before Draco even had a chance to say anything to his parents, his mother pulled out a paper from her handbag and thrust it into his hands. "Explain this," she demanded in a voice laced with anger.

As Hermione moved over to his side, Draco glanced down at The Daily Prophet his mother had shoved into his hands and groaned. The front page was dominated by an old picture of him and Hermione, taken back when they were first together, along with the headline – _**War Heroine marries former Death Eater in shock Vegas wedding. **_

Draco wasn't sure how the wedding had made the papers so quickly, possibly one of their friends had spoken to the press as soon as they returned home, but however it had made the news, it meant he hadn't had a chance to explain things to his parents first. Now he had to deal with not only their anger regarding the wedding, but their anger about finding out about his marriage via the newspapers. It wasn't going to be pleasant, but these things had to be done. Draco knew facing his angry parents, was the first of many tests the young couple were going to face in the coming weeks.


	11. Chapter 11

The tension in Draco's penthouse was palpable as Lucius and Narcissa waited for their son to explain his actions. Hermione could also feel their angry gazes directed at her, but she ignored them as she briefly scanned the article in the paper. It was only a brief article, and didn't have many details, but it had the most important detail of all – that Hermione and Draco had been secretly married while they were in Vegas.

Hermione was guessing that someone who was there over the weekend had spoken to the press the instant they'd returned home. The question was, had it been Astoria in a fit of rage, or had it been someone else. Of course Hermione couldn't help but think about Lavender and the fact she worked for the Prophet. She was in the perfect place to leak the story, and Hermione knew the other witch hated her enough to do such a thing. However, the problem of who had broken the story wasn't important at the moment, right now they had to deal with Draco's parents.

"Are we getting an explanation?" Narcissa demanded, giving her son a steely glare.

"Perhaps we should sit down," Draco suggested.

"Quit stalling, Draco, and explain," Lucius snarled. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"I got married," Draco answered.

"So we read," Narcissa replied through clenched teeth. "The question is, why? What were you playing at, Draco? In case you forgot, you're engaged to Astoria."

"Not any more," Draco muttered.

"Draco," Hermione warned, nudging her husband in the ribs.

"Sorry," Draco apologised, knowing he had to take the situation seriously if he was going to get his parents onside. "The truth is, we didn't plan this. Hermione and I ran into each other in Vegas, and the second we did, we knew we belonged together. We never should have split up in the first place."

"That was six years ago," Lucius pointed out. "You've long since moved on."

"If you honestly think that, you've been burying your head in the sand," Draco responded with a snort. "I never moved on, I just learnt to cope without Hermione in my life."

"You did so much more than that," Narcissa argued. "Up until now, you were happy to marry Astoria."

"I was never happy to marry Astoria," Draco protested. "I agreed to marry her to get you two off my back. And I've had enough, I've had enough of living my life to make other people happy. Six years ago, I made the stupidest mistake of my life and let Hermione go. Now she's back in my life, and I will not be letting her go."

"And Astoria?" Narcissa questioned. "Did you even give her a second thought in all this?"

"Honestly, no," Draco answered, feeling bad for how he'd treated Astoria. "We didn't think about anyone but ourselves. We reconnected, had a few drinks and saw an opportunity to ensure no-one ever tore us apart again. No-one else entered our mind, this was just about us two."

"You selfish boy," Narcissa spat, surprising Draco with how angry she sounded. He was used to his mother backing him up, and he was rather taken aback by her attitude. "This isn't just about you. This impacts on us all. Your actions have consequences for us all. Poor Astoria has been humiliated and had her heart broken. And then what do you think this does to our friendship with the Greengrasses and other families? They'll be appalled by your actions."

"I really don't care," Draco replied with a shrug.

"Well I do," Narcissa stormed. "These people are my friends, Draco. Now everyone is going to be talking behind our backs. Not to mention what this does to our reputation in the wider wizarding world."

"And now we got down to it," Draco snorted. "You don't care about my happiness, all you care about is your precious reputation. You don't want people to gossip about your son dumping his fiancée and marrying his ex. This is all about you."

"No, this is about all of us," Narcissa argued. "You need to grow up Draco and see that your actions affect more than just yourself. We're all involved here."

"Fine, the whole family is involved," Draco conceded. "But it's my marriage, and my decision. Hermione is my wife, and you two need to accept that."

"Or what?" Lucius asked in a low voice, hearing the threat in his son's voice.

"Or else we're done," Draco announced with more confidence than he felt. He'd never thought about cutting his parents off, but if it came down to a choice between them and Hermione, his wife would win every time.

"Draco, you don't have to do this," Hermione cautioned, not wanting her husband to do anything rash.

"Yes, I do," Draco insisted, taking hold of Hermione's hand and stroking his fingers over her wedding ring. "You're my wife, and you're my priority. My parents need to accept that."

"Do we now?" Lucius sneered. "I don't think so, Draco. You're dragging the family name through the mud here, and I won't stand for it. This marriage will not go ahead."

"What do you mean, it won't go ahead?" Draco snorted. "In case it escaped your attention, we're already married and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I wouldn't count on that if I were you, Draco," Lucius replied with a slow smirk. "These Vegas marriages can't be legal, and I intend to find a loophole to end this thing. Make the most of your time together, because it's soon going to come to an end. Mark my words, I will get this sham marriage terminated."

Without another word, Lucius turned on his heel and swept out of the penthouse, slamming the front door behind him. Hermione flinched at the sound of the door slamming, whereas Draco's focus was on his mother. Despite her earlier harsh words, he was still hoping he could get through to Narcissa. All his life he could count on Narcissa, and he was hoping that wouldn't change now.

"I love her," Draco said softly. "She might not be your ideal choice for my wife, but she makes me happy. Didn't you always say you just wanted me to be happy? Please Mother, can't you just be happy for us?"

Narcissa paused for several seconds before she sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry Draco, I can't condone the way you've gone about this. Right now, I'm more ashamed of you than I've ever been before."

Leaving Draco reeling from her harsh words, Narcissa swept out of the penthouse. This time as the front door slammed shut, Draco was the one to flinch. His mother had never spoken to him with such anger before, and he felt sick in the pit of his stomach at the thought she was ashamed of him. Even at his lowest ebb, when he'd been forced to do Voldemort's bidding, Narcissa had never been ashamed of him.

"Draco." Hermione put a comforting hand on her husband's arm as he stood staring at the spot where his mother had been moments earlier. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," Draco replied. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I didn't expect that."

"Do you want to go after them?" Hermione asked. "Maybe they'll be more inclined to listen if I wasn't around."

"No, it's better to leave them," Draco said. "Father won't listen until he does everything he can to end our marriage. Until he finds out the marriage is legally binding and there's not a thing he can do about it, there's no point talking to him."

"You could talk to your mother, though," Hermione pointed out. "Maybe you could get her to listen to you."

"Not right now," Draco said quietly. "Mother rarely gets angry like that, but when she does it's better to let her cool down. When she's ready, she'll come and see me."

"And until then?" Hermione asked gently.

"Until then, we get on with our life," Draco answered, turning to Hermione and giving her a small smile. "Now where were we, before we were interrupted?"

"We were going to mine to pack my stuff," Hermione replied. "But is it really a good idea now the news has broken? We're going to be in the spotlight from here on in."

"It'll give us a chance to show people we're serious," Draco said. "We can't let the press drive us underground. We need to carry on as normal."

"Even if half the wizarding world think we're terrible people?" Hermione asked. She had no doubt that she and Draco would become the villains in the story, while Astoria would receive buckets of sympathy as the dumped ex-fiancée.

"I'm sure most of them thought that about me anyway," Draco replied with a shrug. "We can't let other people interfere in our relationship. Just look what happened when we let them do that before. This time we need to ignore them and trust in ourselves."

Hermione nodded, knowing Draco was right and that they needed to ignore the critics. Some people weren't going to approve of their relationship, but they'd already known that from the previous time they were together. However, this time they'd probably have more haters given the circumstances of their union. A lot of people would hate them for what they had done to Astoria, and honestly, Hermione couldn't really blame them. As much as she didn't regret marrying Draco, she did regret the fact they'd done it before dealing with Astoria. They should have dealt with Astoria before getting married, but it was done now and they couldn't take back the way things had gone down. They just had to deal with the consequences and make sure that everything they'd done hadn't been in vain. They owed it to everyone, especially themselves, to make their marriage work.

"Okay, let's forget about everyone else and live our lives," Hermione announced. "We'll go to mine, get packed up and I can move in here. I can then contact my landlord and give up my lease."

"If he's going to cause problems, I can pay him off," Draco offered.

"Let's wait and see, shall we?" Hermione chuckled. "If I give you the address, I can go ahead and alter the wards to allow you entry to the flat. It's better than having to come up from the street as they might be press hanging around."

Draco agreed with Hermione, and once they were ready his wife headed off to her flat first. Draco waited almost five minutes, before he memorised the address and followed his wife to her flat. Hermione's flat was small and cosy, but Draco didn't have a chance to really look around as Hermione began chucking orders at him.

Smirking at his wife's bossy attitude, Draco paused long enough to stroke Crookshanks head, before he began to magically pack up his wife's possessions in boxes she found in a cupboard. As they packed they talked about the actual furniture, and since there was nothing Hermione was particularly fussed about, they decided to leave it and sell it. For the time being they would be quite fine at Draco's penthouse, and when they did decide to move they would likely start from scratch anyway.

"Maybe I'll put off cancelling the lease," Hermione mused. "At least until we get the furniture shifted."

"We could probably get that arranged for tomorrow," Draco replied. "I can't say I know anyone off the top of my head who would buy it, but Blaise might. Blaise knows a lot of people."

"There's no rush. If you're off all week, you can sort it before the weekend," Hermione said as they carried on packing.

It took almost all afternoon, but finally Hermione and all her stuff were back at Draco's penthouse. Everything that was left at the flat was going to be sold, and Hermione had decided that the money she made would be put to one side to help with a new house and furniture. Even though she knew Draco could afford to buy a new house and furnish it completely without making much of a dent into his bank account, Hermione was determined to pay her own way. Just because she had a rich husband, didn't mean she was going to leach off him.

"Wow, this is a lot of boxes," Draco remarked as they stacked the last of Hermione's boxes in his spare room.

"I didn't realise I had so much stuff," Hermione confessed. "I can keep most of it packed up until we move if you want."

"No, this is your home now and I want it to feel like it," Draco said, putting his arm around his wife's waist. "You unpack and make yourself at home."

"Maybe tomorrow," Hermione said. "Right now, I just want to grab something to eat and spent the evening relaxing."

"Your wish is my command," Draco replied, leaning down and pressing his lips against Hermione's in a soft kiss. "You go and relax, and leave everything to me."

"Don't tell me you've learnt to cook," Hermione laughed as they exited the spare room.

"Of course not," Draco scoffed. "But there's a small Italian down the road, and they do takeaway. Give me ten minutes, and I'll be back with a full meal."

While Draco was sorting the food, Hermione found some wine in the kitchen. By the time Draco returned with the meal, Hermione had two glasses of wine sitting on the coffee table and she was settled in the corner of Draco's large sofa. Crookshanks had already claimed the chair beside the fire, and her ginger feline was curled up in contentment beside the roaring flames. Spreading the food on the table next to their wine, Draco sat down next to Hermione and the pair settled down for a cosy evening in as they settled into married life back home in England.


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione stood with the doors of Draco's large walk-in wardrobe wide open, wondering just how she was going to fit her own clothes in alongside his. Draco had more clothes than Hermione had realised, and even though she didn't have quite as many, she still had a fair few. From what she could see there was no way all of her clothes were going to fit in the wardrobe alongside Draco's. Not unless one of them got rid of a pile of their clothes. Calling for her husband, she pointed out the problem she'd found.

"No problems," Draco said, striding into the wardrobe and pulling various items of clothes off the hangers and throwing them onto the king size bed behind them.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked. The last thing she wanted was for Draco to throw away his clothes just to make room for hers.

"Making you some room," Draco answered, throwing a green jumper onto the bed.

"I don't want you to get rid of your clothes," Hermione protested.

"I'm not getting rid of them," Draco chuckled, turning to give Hermione a reassuring smile. "I'm merely moving some of the things I don't wear very often into the spare room. And when we get a place of our own, we just need to remember we need a larger wardrobe."

"That's a good idea," Hermione said. "I should sort my clothes and leave some of mine in the spare room as well."

"It won't be for long, we'll have our own place soon enough," Draco replied, turning back to sorting his clothes.

"Soon could still be months away," Hermione cautioned. Personally she felt as though they needed to slow down and take stock of things before they moved house, especially as everything had happened in such a whirlwind. What they needed was to settle into their lives together, and get used to being back in each other's arms.

"I suppose so," Draco conceded. As much as he wanted them to find their own place, he also thought that adjusting to their new lives together should take priority over more upheaval.

Leaving Draco to finish with his clothes, Hermione turned to the boxes stuffed with her own clothing and she began to sort them. By the time Draco was finished and there was space in the wardrobe, Hermione had a box of clothes she wanted to keep in the spare room. Fortunately, the clothes she wanted to keep in the main wardrobe now fitted in perfectly alongside Draco's and it made her smile to see her clothes hanging alongside those of her husband.

"What's next?" Draco asked once their spare clothes were hung in the wardrobe in the spare room.

Hermione looked around at the boxes, wondering what to unpack next. However, before she could make a decision, the sound of the floo network activating interrupted them. Draco had unlocked the floo, hoping for a visit from his mother, but when the couple headed for the floo room it wasn't Narcissa who had arrived. It was Lucius, and he looked just as mad as he'd been the previous day when he'd stormed out, vowing to end the couple's marriage.

"Father," Draco greeted with a tense nod of his head. He didn't know if Lucius could interfere in his marriage, but he had every intention of fighting his father and remaining married to the witch he loved.

"Draco," Lucius returned, not even bothering to acknowledge Hermione who was standing beside Draco.

"Is there something you want?" Draco asked, not having the patience to deal with her father after his outburst the previous day.

"There is," Lucius said slowly. "I've come to admit defeat."

"Excuse me?" Draco looked at his father in shock, positive he'd misheard him.

"You heard me," Lucius muttered. "You win, Draco. I don't like it, and I don't approve, but it seems like your marriage is completely legal."

"I could have told you that," Draco snorted. "So what happened to finding a loophole?"

"It didn't work," Lucius replied. "There is no loophole. A wedding in Las Vegas is just as legal as a wedding anywhere else in the wizarding world. I even looked into getting it annulled due to what I assumed was your inebriated state, but it turns out you weren't drunk. The chapels don't allow drunk couples to marry. Before you married, you had to prove you were of sound mind and not affected by the drink."

"I know, I was there when I got married," Draco retorted sarcastically. "I knew what I was doing father, we both did. The alcohol may have played a part in our recklessness of getting married so quickly, but it didn't affect the decision of us wanting to be together. Hermione is all I've ever wanted, you know that. Ideally, we should have handled things differently, but we don't regret our marriage. Getting married was the best thing either of us have ever done."

"So you say, but your wife is very quiet on the matter," Lucius remarked, finally turning his piercing stare on Hermione. "From what I remember of you, you're anything but quiet, Miss Granger."

"Firstly, it's Mrs Malfoy now," Hermione said, smirking slightly when Lucius winced at the use of his family name. "And I agree with everything Draco had just said. We regret hurting people, but we don't regret reuniting or marrying. Like it or not, I'm married to your son, and we will be married for the rest of our lives."

"The question is, can you accept that?" Draco queried. "Can you and Mother accept my decision?"

"And if we can't you're disowning us?" Lucius asked, remembering his son's threat from the previous day.

"Yes," Draco said with a firm nod of his head, willing himself to stay strong. The last thing he wanted was to be estranged from his parents, but he couldn't see any other way forward if they refused to accept Hermione as his wife.

"We'll let you know," Lucius said, turning back towards the fireplace.

"That's it?" Draco snapped. "What do you expect us to do, sit around and wait and see if you and mother decide to come round? I'm telling you now, that's not going to happen. I'll give you one chance. I'm going to invite you and mother for Sunday lunch. If you refuse the invite, I'll know you've chosen not to accept Hermione, and I'll not bother you again. The choice is yours father. You've got until Sunday to make a decision."

"Very well," Lucius replied as he grabbed some floo powder and without another word he vanished in a whirl of emerald green flames.

"What have I done?" Draco whispered to Hermione as the flames died down and his father's presence in the house was a mere memory.

"You can take it back," Hermione said. "You don't have to force your parents to choose. You can give them some time to adjust."

"No," Draco replied, shaking his head stubbornly. He wasn't at all sure that he'd made the right call, but he'd done it now and he knew to back down now would give his father the upper hand. "I'm not giving them all the power. Either they accept you by Sunday, or we're done."

"But you don't want that," Hermione argued. "You don't want to lose your parents."

"No, I don't," Draco agreed, taking Hermione in his arms. "But nor do I want them to treat you as though you don't exist. They need to accept you Hermione, or else it's impossible for me to maintain a relationship with them. They need to accept that you're the love of my life, and you make me the happiest wizard alive."

Hermione smiled at Draco's words, reassuring her husband that she felt exactly the same way about him. They were right where they wanted to be, and despite the problems they faced, they couldn't be happier. With any luck Draco's parents would come round and accept Hermione, but even if they didn't, they could deal with that when the time came. For now they had each other, and finally after years of misery for them both, they were right back together where they belonged.

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As Hermione got ready for work she wished she could take the rest of the week off to spend it with Draco, but as she'd told her husband, she had her promotion to think about. Fortunately, Draco understood Hermione's need to return to work and he didn't make her feel guilty as she prepared to leave him.

"Good luck," he offered as she got ready to leave. "Not that you'll need it. You're going to be great at your new job."

"It will mean more travelling," Hermione pointed out. The previous week more travelling had sounded ideal, but now she was back with Draco, she wasn't so sure she wanted to spend so much time away from home.

"We don't need to be joined at the hip," Draco replied. "Besides, I'm my own boss, I'm sure I can accompany you on some trips. Your career is important Hermione, and I don't expect you to turn down a big promotion because of me."

"How did I end up with such a perfect husband?" Hermione joked, stepping into Draco's arms to give him a goodbye kiss.

"Just lucky, I guess," Draco replied with a grin.

Saying goodbye to Draco, Hermione left the penthouse and headed off to work in a good mood. However, her good mood didn't even last until she'd reached the Department of Magical Co-Operation. In the atrium she ran into Ron, and her best friend practically ignored her as he passed her with a colleague from the Law Department. Vowing not to let Ron and his attitude get her down, Hermione carried on up to her office and settled down to catch up on what she'd missed while she was away.

Hermione had been at work for half an hour before her boss, Hector Bloomfield, called her into his office. Figuring it was about her promotion, Hermione took a few minutes to calm her nerves before she appeared in her boss's office, collected and ready to begin her new job.

"I'll cut straight to the point," Hector began as Hermione took a seat in front of his desk. "It's not good news, Hermione. You didn't get the promotion."

"I… what?" Hermione stuttered, not able to believe what she was hearing. "How? I thought it was a mere formality."

"I may have jumped the gun there," Hector admitted sheepishly. "I did put your name forward, but the job went to Colin Pike."

"Pike?" Hermione questioned in disgust. Colin was one of her colleagues, one who hadn't worked in the department as long as she had, and one who was known to offend and often get himself into trouble with foreign dignitaries. "You can't be serious. There's no way he's ready for such a promotion. Just last month he was on probation and you wanted to transfer him out of the department."

"It wasn't just my call," Hector replied. "All the senior ministers had their say, and the consensus is that Colin has potential."

"And I don't?" Hermione retorted. "What happened to all the praise you were heaping on me just last week? What about all the hours I've put into this department? I've worked my fingers to the bone for this department, and this is the thanks I get. Passed over for someone who doesn't do half as good of a job as I do."

"It's nothing personal, Hermione," Hector said soothingly. "The Ministry just felt Colin was the better candidate."

"Nothing personal," Hermione muttered as Ron's words about her losing her promotion at the weekend crept back into her head. "Can I ask when this decision was made?"

"Discussions started on Monday, but a firm decision wasn't reached until yesterday afternoon."

"You mean after news of my marriage had broken," Hermione said, putting two and two together and not liking the conclusions she was coming to. "I've worked with you for a long time, Hector, so I would like to know the truth. Did my marriage impact on the decision not to give me the promotion?"

"The Ministry doesn't work like that, Hermione," Hector said, shuffling uncomfortably in his seat as Hermione scrutinised him.

"Officially, I'm sure it doesn't," Hermione replied. "But how about unofficially. Just tell me this, was my marriage mentioned while discussing my possible promotion."

"It may have come up," Hector conceded.

"And let's guess, it wasn't very complimentary," Hermione snorted. "I'm sure someone objected to having a Malfoy in such a high profile role."

"There was a bit of wariness, I'll admit," Hector said. "But your marriage wasn't the reason you didn't get the promotion."

"Bullshit," Hermione snapped inelegantly as she rose to her feet. "I'm not blind Hector, I can see what's going on here. It hasn't escaped my notice how I only started to advance at the Ministry once Draco and I broke up the first time, and now I'm married to him, my career has stalled yet again. Well, sod you and sod the Ministry. I resign."

"Hermione, please don't do this," Hector pleaded.

"Too late, I've already done it," Hermione replied, simmering with anger. Not only was she angry with the Ministry, but she was angry with herself for not spotting what Ron had clearly seen, that her career only advanced in the first place because she'd ended her association with Draco. Well, now she was back with Draco and he meant a whole lot more to her than some poxy job. "I'll sort my workload out, and have everything sorted by the end of the day. I assume it's going to be easier for everyone if I leave today and don't work my two weeks' notice."

"You really don't need to do this, Hermione," Hector said.

"I do," Hermione replied shortly. "So can I leave today, or do you require me to work my entire notice?"

"You can leave today if you would rather, but I do need an official copy of your resignation," Hector said with a defeated sigh, knowing Hermione was gone and there was nothing he could do to make her stay.

"It'll be on your desk by lunchtime," Hermione promised as she turned and stalked out of her boss's office.

Returning to her own work station, Hermione spent the day organising her work and filing neatly so someone else could easily pick up where she'd left off. As she promised her official resignation was on Hector's desk by lunchtime, and by the end of the day, her desk and spotless with all her work filed away neatly and all her personal effects packed into a cardboard box.

At the end of the day a few colleagues asked her to have a drink with them to say goodbye, but Hermione wasn't in the mood. Instead she said her goodbyes and headed for the lifts as she prepared to leave the Ministry for the final time. When Hermione entered the lift with her box, she found both Harry and Ron in the lift, heading home for the day.

"Hi Hermione," Harry said with a small smile. "We heard about what happened today. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Hermione replied with a shrug. "I don't want to work for such bigoted people. I can do better than the sodding Ministry of Magic."

"I did warn you," Ron said, sounding incredibly smug.

"Yes you did, and I'm sure you're delighted to be right, Ronald," Hermione snapped. "Well congratulations, you could clearly see what prejudiced buggers we worked for better than me."

"Don't take your bad mood out on me," Ron spat. "I didn't make the decision about your promotion. I just pointed out what would happen if you got back with Malfoy. It gives me no pleasure to see you walk out on your job."

"Please, you're practically crowing," Hermione snorted. "This is what you wanted to see happen Ron. Although if you hoped it would make me leave Draco, then you were very much mistaken. As you can see, I chose my husband over this place."

"And yet again, you've made a bad call," Ron said with a sigh. "It's your life Hermione. You carry on messing it up, just don't expect me to help pick up the pieces when it all comes crashing down around your ears."

Thankfully the lift chose that moment to reach the atrium and Ron disembarked from the lift before Hermione could say something she might have regretted. Following Ron out of the lift, Hermione said goodbye to Harry and headed towards the fires that would take her home to her husband. Right now she wanted nothing more than to be in Draco's arms, and have him comfort her after her day from hell.


	13. Chapter 13

Unaware of the bad day his wife was having, Draco was currently having his own bad day. Given that he didn't need to be at work for the rest of the week, he decided to try and speak to Astoria. When Hermione had moved in with him, he'd packed up the few bits and pieces his ex-fiancée had managed to leave at his place, and he was planning on returning them to her.

Unfortunately for Draco, Astoria wasn't making things easy on him, and when he called at her parents' house he was informed she wasn't available. Even though he suspected Astoria was at home, but just refusing to speak to him, Draco didn't push the matter. He merely left the box of her belongings and intended to leave again without a fuss.

However, Mrs Greengrass wasn't content to just let Draco walk away without first letting him know just what she thought of him. Mrs Greengrass didn't hold back and she called Draco every name under the sun before delivering an almighty slap around his face that would make her daughters proud.

"I really am sorry," Draco apologised sincerely as he rubbed his cheek where Astoria's mother had slapped him.

"Sorry does not fix the damage you've done to my daughter," Mrs Greengrass snapped.

"Nor does it fix the damage you've caused to our families reputation," Mr Greengrass added. "You've forever tainted us with your deceit, Draco."

"I'm sorry, that was never my intention," Draco said. "I know I handled things badly, and if I could change the way things happened, I would do."

"But you wouldn't change the outcome?" Mr Greengrass checked. "You wouldn't take back your scandalous marriage and marry my daughter instead?"

"No, I wouldn't take back marrying Hermione," Draco confirmed. "As I said, I regret the way I handled the situation, but I can't regret the outcome. Astoria and I were never meant to be together."

"It's a pity you didn't work that out before you humiliated my daughter," Mrs Greengrass sneered. "I would like it if you left now, the sight of you makes me sick."

"I'm leaving," Draco said. "Please just tell Astoria how sorry I am. My intention was never to hurt her. I was just following my heart."

Mrs Greengrass snorted in disgust as she turned on her heel and stalked away from the door. Muttering another apology to Mr Greengrass, Draco turned and left the Greengrasses house. As he stepped away from the house, he heard a window opening above him and looking up he found Astoria looking down at him, a murderous look on her face.

"I can't believe you've got the nerve to show your face after what you've done," Astoria snarled.

"I've come to apologise, Astoria," Draco said, wishing she'd come down instead of making him shout up to a window. "I know I can never make up for what I've done, but I want you to know how sorry I am."

"Sorry," Astoria squealed. "I'll give you bloody sorry."

Before Draco even had a chance to react to Astoria's words, his ex-fiancée produced a bucket from somewhere and she flung a bucket load of ice water down at Draco. Not even Draco's fast reflexes were enough to help him avoid being completely drenched by the surprise shower courtesy of his ex.

"Shit, Astoria," Draco cried, shivering as the ice water soaked him from head to toe.

"If you dare come back again it will be scalding hot water next time," Astoria threatened.

"There won't be a next time," Draco vowed. "I'm sorry for how things ended Astoria, but I can't be sorry that they have. We were never truly happy together, you know that as well as I do."

"You keep telling yourself that Draco," Astoria sneered. "We were good together, and I would have made a much better wife than that little mudblood tart you married. I'm the best thing that ever happened to you Draco, and you were stupid enough to throw it all away. One day you will regret not marrying me, and then it will be too late. I'm destined for bigger and better things than you. So sod off before I refill my bucket."

Shaking his head, Draco turned and left the Greengrasses property before pulling out his wand and apparating home. Once at home he stripped off his wet clothes and grabbed a hot shower. Re-dressing he wandered back into the bedroom and found Crookshanks sprawled over the bed. Stroking the ginger feline, he smiled at his presence as just seeing the grumpy cat reminded him of his wife.

Leaving Crookshanks to his afternoon nap, Draco headed into his study to do a bit of work. The majority of his work was at the office, but he still had a few bits and pieces he could be doing at home. He also wanted to think about Blaise's idea of building a hotel in Vegas as after being to the city he could definitely see the potential. However, he knew that if he did agree to build in Vegas he was going to have to work hard to reign Blaise in. Blaise was flamboyant enough at times and in a place like Vegas it would be very easy for him to lose himself and go completely over the top.

Losing himself in making notes on a potential new hotel in Vegas, Draco didn't notice how quickly the afternoon passed. He didn't even realise it was time for Hermione to return from work until he heard the floo fire up. Hastily putting aside his own work, Draco went to greet his wife. However, the welcoming smile on his face faltered as Hermione dropped a cardboard box onto the floor upon her arrival.

"What's going on?" he asked warily.

"I've quit," Hermione announced.

"Quit?" Draco queried. "Your job?"

"Yes, I've left the Ministry," Hermione confirmed with a nod.

"What about your promotion?" Draco asked.

"What promotion?" Hermione snorted. "They gave that to an incapable arsehole who the head of department doesn't even like."

Draco opened his mouth to ask what had happened when Ron's words from the weekend suddenly replayed in his mind. Ron had predicted that Hermione wouldn't get her promotion, and as much as Draco disliked the redhead, he was betting his reasons why she wouldn't get it were also correct. His wife had missed out on her well-deserved promotion because of him.

"I'm sorry," Draco finally whispered, the guilt bubbling in his chest.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Hermione insisted as she walked over to her husband and wrapped her arms around him.

"Don't I?" Draco questioned with a sigh. "Are you telling me that Weasley was wrong? You didn't lose that promotion because we got married."

"Annoying as it is, Ron was right," Hermione confessed. "He was right about everything. I only started advancing once we weren't together, and now we're married, my face didn't fit at work anymore."

"That is why I'm sorry," Draco said softly. "You shouldn't have to go through shit like that just for loving me."

"I shouldn't, but we're not the ones at fault here, Draco," Hermione said. "If the Ministry are going to be that bigoted, I don't want to work for them. I just wish I'd seen it earlier and I would have walked away years ago."

"So what are you going to do now?" Draco questioned.

"I haven't decided yet," Hermione replied with a small smile. "But there's no rush. I just so happened to have married a very rich wizard. I'm sure he can support me while I decide what to do with my life."

"You know I'll support you," Draco said. "You never have to work again if you don't want to."

"No, I couldn't do the whole lady of leisure thing," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "I will find a new job, but I think I might go for an entire change of career."

"You've got all the time in the world to decide what you want to do," Draco said. "And in the meantime, you could always find us somewhere new to live."

"We'll see," Hermione replied with a smile. "So how was your day? Please say it was better than mine?"

"I guess that depends on your point of view," Draco replied. "I went to give Astoria her belongings back. I got slapped by her mother and she threw an ice cold bucket of water over me."

"I hate to say this, but I can't say I entirely blame them," Hermione said carefully. "The way we handled things was pretty bad."

"I'm sure I deserved both the slap and the shower," Draco conceded. "Although at least now I'm done with them. I've apologised, and nothing I can say or do can fix what's happened. I think it's best if we all move on."

"Speaking of moving on, have you heard from your parents?" Hermione asked.

"No," Draco replied with a sigh. "I'm hoping no news is good news and that they turn up on Sunday."

"About Sunday, are we going out for lunch, or would you rather I cooked?" Hermione asked.

"I can't ask you to cook for my parents," Draco said.

"You're not asking, I'm volunteering," Hermione retorted. "Seriously, it would be no problem if you would rather we ate here."

"I guess if we stayed at home any arguments would be kept private," Draco mused. "Go on then, as long as you're sure, we'll have lunch here."

"Lunch at home it is," Hermione said as she gave Draco a quick kiss and stepping out of his arms she picked up the box she'd brought home from work. "I'll unpack this stuff, get changed and then I can start on dinner. I'm assuming you haven't made anything."

"I figured giving you food poisoning isn't a good wedding present so I stayed away from the kitchen," Draco joked.

"Give me ten minutes and I'll get started on something," Hermione said, laughing at Draco. "Be an angel and go and see what we've got."

While Hermione went to unpack her box from work, Draco headed into the kitchen and rummaged around for some food. Since he didn't cook, he didn't have a lot, but fortunately Hermione had transferred the food from her flat into his kitchen and he was able to find the ingredients for a chicken stir-fry.

"We've got the bits to make stir-fry," Draco announced when his wife entered the kitchen.

"Good," Hermione mumbled distractedly as she examined the ingredients Draco had found and rummaged in the cupboards to add a few more ingredients. "If I give you a knife, can you slice the peppers and veg?"

"Of course," Draco answered. "But only if you tell me what's wrong. Has something happened?"

"When I was unpacking I found my diary," Hermione explained as she put some oil in the wok and began to fry the chicken. "I'd totally forgotten but I've got a bridesmaid dress fitting on Friday."

"And?"

"And last time I saw Ginny, she all but ended our friendship," Hermione replied. "You saw her, she was fuming that we'd stolen her limelight."

"She's a stroppy self-involved cow, but surely she'll have gotten over it before Friday," Draco said.

"I hope so, otherwise it isn't going to be a pleasant afternoon," Hermione sighed.

"Drop out then," Draco suggested. "Let her find herself another bridesmaid."

"It's less than a month before the wedding, I can't do that to her," Hermione argued. "Besides, it's also Harry's big day and he's being great. He admitted he was wrong about us and he's already said he hopes we're happy together. I can't let my best friend down."

"Fine, but don't take any abuse from that little Weaselette," Draco advised. "She's got a vicious tongue on her, and she has no right to use it on you. What we do with our lives is nobody's business but our own, and quite honestly I wish people would just keep their noses out of our lives."

"I don't think that's ever going to happen," Hermione said with a wry smile. "There's always going to be someone there to offer their opinion, whether we want it or not. What we have to do this time is learn to ignore them."

"Don't worry, no-one is going to come in between us again," Draco vowed, leaning over to kiss his wife.

Smiling happily, the couple turned their attention back to making dinner. Once dinner was ready they ate at the kitchen table, before heading into the front room to spend the rest of the evening relaxing together. As long as they were alone everything was perfect, it was when other people were around that the problems began. Sadly for Draco and Hermione they couldn't always be alone and like it or not they had to deal with the people in their lives and their opinions about their surprise marriage.


	14. Chapter 14

Parvati's bridal boutique was nestled in a corner of Diagon Alley, and was a classy shop decorated in shades of white and creams with gold accents. Standing outside of the shop, Hermione took a few deep breaths as she prepared to enter and face Ginny for the first time since the weekend. Truth be told she would rather be still curled up at home with Draco, but real life couldn't be ignored.

Steeling herself for what lay ahead of her, Hermione pushed open the door and entered the boutique. Parvati was standing at the cash register and she greeted Hermione with a warm smile.

"Isn't it a bit late to be shopping for wedding dresses?" she teased. "I read you got married in Las Vegas over the weekend."

"I did," Hermione replied with a nod. "But I'm here for the dress fitting for Ginny's wedding."

"Ah," Parvati returned hesitantly.

"It is today, isn't it?" Hermione checked, wondering if she'd recorded the date wrong.

"It is," Parvati replied. "In fact, Ginny, her mother and Lavender have already arrived. They're in the private fitting room."

"But there's a problem," Hermione guessed. It hadn't escaped her notice that the second she'd mentioned the fitting Parvati had become twitchy.

"I should take you through," Parvati said, gesturing towards the private room where fittings took place.

Wary about what was happening, Hermione followed Parvati through to the private fitting room. In the room she found Ginny, Molly and Lavender standing in front of the rack of bridesmaid dresses while Ginny's wedding dress was hanging up separately. The second she entered the room, the three witches turned to face her and Hermione knew something was going on. Molly and Ginny were frowning, while Lavender looked positively giddy and was smirking at Hermione.

"Just call me when you're ready to start the fitting," Parvati said before she backed out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"Am I too early?" Hermione asked, wondering where the other bridesmaids were. Ginny had several bridesmaids, but aside from her the only one at the fitting was Lavender.

"No, we asked the others to push the fitting back ten minutes," Molly said frostily.

"I didn't get a message saying the fitting was later," Hermione remarked.

"We didn't send you one," Ginny said sharply.

"You're still mad at me, aren't you?" Hermione asked with a sigh. "I'm sorry you're upset Ginny, but what happened at the weekend had nothing to do with you. It was never about trying to outdo you. Draco and I met up by pure chance, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to be together."

"If you say so," Ginny snorted. "But whether you meant it or not, you did upstage me. And I can't risk you doing it again."

"What are you saying, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"Your services as a bridesmaid are no longer required," Molly informed Hermione as Lavender watched on in obvious glee. "As long as you're part of the wedding party, no-one will be paying attention to Ginny. And I will not having you ruin my daughter's big day. The wedding is about Ginny and Harry, not you and your Death Eater husband."

Hermione was so shocked by the news that for a moment she didn't know what to say. "So what? I'm just relegated to being a guest?" she finally managed.

"Yes," Ginny answered. "But you won't be receiving a plus one on your invitation. I won't stop you attending the wedding as you're Harry's best friend, but I won't have him there."

"Him?" Hermione snarled. "You mean my husband. My husband who has a name by the way."

"Fine, we don't want Malfoy at the wedding," Ginny spat. "It's going to be hard enough keeping the focus on me and Harry after the stunt you've pulled. Your marriage is all anyone can talk about."

"You can lay that at the door of whoever leaked the news to the papers," Hermione retorted, turning to Lavender.

"Don't look at me," Lavender spat. "I didn't say a word."

"Well someone did," Hermione replied. "We were no sooner back from Vegas before the papers had hold of the story."

"Well, I didn't tip them off," Lavender insisted. "Unlike some people, I don't want to upstage Ginny and Harry on their big day."

"For the last time, we didn't do this to upstage anyone. Draco and I love each other, and while we may not have handled things in the best way, we didn't want to lose our second chance."

"I'm sorry Hermione, but we've made our decision," Molly said. "We have to do what's best for Ginny."

"If that's what you want, I can hardly object," Hermione replied through clenched teeth. After all, it wasn't as if she could force herself into the wedding party. "But as my friends, can you at least allow me to bring my husband to the wedding."

"We don't want him anywhere near the wedding," Ginny insisted. "And don't go running to Harry, because he'll stand with me on this."

"If you want me gone, then I'm gone," Hermione snapped. "And don't expect me at the wedding, because I might very well be busy that day."

Aware that Lavender was stifling her laughter at her situation, Hermione turned on her heel and keeping her head held high she exited the bridal boutique. Just as she was leaving, the other girls were arriving for the fitting and Angelina stopped her to find out why she was leaving.

"I've just being fired," Hermione said.

"From what?" Angelina asked. She knew Hermione had left her job at the Ministry, but she thought she'd been the one to quit.

"Being a bridesmaid," Hermione answered. "Ginny made it clear she didn't want me as a bridesmaid anymore. Not only that, but Draco has been banned from the wedding."

"She can't be serious," Angelina said with a frown. "What you do with your life has nothing to do with her wedding."

"Try telling her that," Hermione snorted. "To be honest, if that's the way she feels, I'd rather steer clear of the whole thing."

"You mean skip the wedding?" Angelina asked with a gasp.

"If I have to," Hermione replied with a sigh. "I don't want to let Harry down, but I don't want to be somewhere I'm not wanted. I guess I've got a few weeks to decide what I'm going to do."

"If you want my advice, don't let Ginny have the last laugh," Angelina said. "Harry's your best friend, and I'm sure he'll want you at his wedding."

"I guess we'll see," Hermione said with a shrug.

Saying her goodbyes to Angelina and the other bridesmaids, she left them to get on with the fitting while she went home. Since she'd been expecting to be gone all afternoon, Draco had headed into work so she was alone in the penthouse. Deciding to do some unpacking and rearranging she spent the next few hours adding a bit more of her presence to the penthouse. When she was finished she then started planning Sunday lunch and perfecting a menu that would hopefully impress Draco's parents.

By the time Draco was due to arrive home, Hermione had Sunday lunch sorted and had a shopping list ready for the next day. She was then curled up on the sofa with a book in her hands when her husband entered the front room.

"How was the fitting?" he asked, settling down next to Hermione.

"I didn't have a fitting," Hermione replied. "Instead I was relieved of my duties."

"Weaselette sacked you as a bridesmaid?" Draco questioned in surprise. He knew Hermione had been worried about the fitting, but he hadn't for one minute thought that her friend could be so cruel.

"Apparently I would steal her limelight," Hermione said. "With me in the wedding, no-one would pay attention to Ginny."

"Selfish tart," Draco sneered. "So what now? She just expects you to attend as a guest, and expects no-one will be talking about why you're not a bridesmaid when the groom is your best friend?"

"I don't think I'm going to be attending the wedding," Hermione admitted.

"Why not?"

"Because it was made very clear that you weren't welcome," Hermione answered. "In virtually the same breath, I was removed as a bridesmaid and warned not to bring my husband to the wedding. We might have stolen the show you know."

"Weaselette is an incredibly self-involved person," Draco remarked with a low whistle. "Does she honestly think anyone will be worried about us during her wedding?"

"Apparently so."

"And what's Potter's view on this? He was pretty good about us in Vegas."

"Harry wasn't there, so I don't know his views," Hermione admitted. "I'm sure if he cares, he'll be in touch."

"And will you go to the wedding if he asks you?" Draco asked.

"Only if I can attend with the man I love," Hermione replied. "I don't see why we should have to hide because Ginny is too insecure to realise that the whole world doesn't revolve around her."

"No matter what's decided, you should go to the wedding," Draco insisted. "You'll only regret not attending your best friend's wedding."

"I guess we'll have to see what's going to happen," Hermione muttered with a shrug. She really didn't want to miss Harry's wedding, but she wasn't going to make any plans until she'd spoken to Harry and found where he stood on the whole matter.

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Harry nervously rapped his fingers on the table in front of him as he nervously waited for Hermione to turn up. He was currently sitting in a café in Diagon Alley, where he'd arranged to meet Hermione. He'd arranged the meeting the previous evening after Ginny had casually informed him that she'd removed Hermione as one of her bridesmaids. Knowing his fiancée, Harry suspected she'd been heavy handed in dealing with Hermione and he wanted to make sure that everything was okay with his best friend.

Finally Hermione turned up only moments before the time they were due to meet, laden down with shopping bags. Apologising for nearly being late, Hermione ordered a coffee and sank down into the chair opposite Harry.

"Wow, you look flustered," Harry remarked.

"I hate food shopping," Hermione informed her friend. "Half of what I want, I can't find in the wizarding world, which means I have to do part of my shopping in the muggle world."

"Yeah, food shopping is a bit of a drag," Harry agreed. "In fact, all shopping is a drag."

"You won't get any arguments from me," Hermione said as she fixed her friend with a serious look. "So Harry, how are things?"

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "I fear my wilful fiancée has alienated my best friend."

"She told you then."

"She did. And I'm sorry Hermione, I had no idea what she and Molly were planning."

"But do you agree?" Hermione asked.

"No, but at the end of the day, it's Ginny's choice who she has as bridesmaid," Harry replied. "I did try and talk her round, but she was insistent. I'm sorry Hermione."

"I'm not really that bothered about being a bridesmaid," Hermione admitted. "She only asked me because of our friendship, and you were the reason I said yes."

"But are you still coming to the wedding, aren't you?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Hermione said with a slight shrug. "Molly and Ginny were also insistent that if I did attend the wedding, I did so alone. I don't want to miss you getting married, Harry, but Draco is my husband. Is it really too much to ask to expect him to attend your wedding with me?"

"No, it's not," Harry admitted. "But I want you at my wedding, Hermione. You just leave Ginny to me. I'll let her get her own way regarding the bridesmaids, but I won't let her ban you from our wedding."

"And Draco?"

"He can attend with you," Harry insisted. "As you say, he's your husband and it's only right he should be with you."

"Ginny and Molly won't like it," Hermione warned.

"This is my wedding as well, and I want my best friend to be there," Harry said. "With her husband, who clearly makes her happy."

"He does," Hermione agreed with a smile. "Despite the fuss it's caused, I don't regret marrying him, Harry."

"That's good," Harry said, returning her smile. "And how are other people taking it?"

"We'll get a better idea on how Draco's parents are handling things tomorrow," Hermione replied. "They weren't happy, so Draco gave them and ultimatum. Either they accept us and come to lunch tomorrow, or he's done with them."

"He would really walk away from his parents?"

"He doesn't want to, and we're both praying it won't come to that, but he will if push comes to shove."

"And what do you think will happen?"

"I'm hoping Lucius and Narcissa love Draco enough to accept me," Hermione admitted. "I'm not sure I'd ever be able to forgive myself if he lost his parents because of me."

"It wouldn't be because of you, Hermione," Harry said supportively. "If the worst happens, and they lose touch, it'll be down to Lucius and Narcissa. All they have to do is accept his choices and that you make him happy."

"You make it sound so easy," Hermione laughed. "And right now, my life is anything but easy."

"I'm sure it'll all work out in the end," Harry predicted. "At least I hope it will."

"So do I," Hermione said. "Do you fancy another drink before I have to go?"

"That sounds good," Harry returned with a smile. "And Hermione, no matter what happens, I want you to know that you'll always be my best friend. Even if you are now a Malfoy."

"Thanks Harry," Hermione chuckled as she headed off to get them another drink and a cake.

At least now she knew that no matter what happened, she and Harry would be okay. Hopefully Harry would sort an invitation to his wedding, then she and Draco could settle down and focus on their own lives. And maybe in time the rest of the wizarding world would get used to the fact they were happily married and weren't going to let anything tear them apart for a second time.


	15. Chapter 15

Despite the fact they'd had no confirmation that Draco's parents were coming to Sunday lunch, Hermione proceeded as though they were. When she'd gone shopping, the day she'd met Harry for coffee, she'd bought enough for four, and on Sunday morning she was in the kitchen preparing a meal for four.

After much deliberation, Hermione had decided to prepare a meal she knew she could make to perfection. She'd gone with minted lamb chops, home-made roast potatoes and parsnips and some fresh carrots and green beans. She'd then cheated slightly and bought an already made melt in the middle chocolate pudding, although she had made her own vanilla custard.

While Hermione was preparing lunch, Draco had been setting the table in the small dining room, and like Hermione he was preparing for guests. He'd ensured that he had a couple of bottles of his mother's favourite elf-made wine, and he'd even made sure he'd bought a new bottle of Fire-whisky so his father could have a stiffer drink if he desired. Although to be honest, Draco suspected that it might be him who needed a stif drink as even though he hoped his parents would turn up, he had no idea what to expect of them if they did.

"I think all we're waiting for now is to see if mother and father turn up," he remarked to Hermione, catching her as she left the kitchen.

"I need to get changed first," Hermione replied, heading towards the bedroom and pulling off her t-shirt as she went.

"What's wrong with what you're wearing?" Draco asked, following his wife. A few moments ago, Hermione had been dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue printed t-shirt with her hair tied up in a high ponytail. However, now her t-shirt had been discarded and she was wiggling out of her jeans.

"I can't meet your parents dressed like this," Hermione said, gesturing to herself, which was now stripped down to her lacy black underwear.

"That would cause a stir," Draco remarked. "In fact it might cause more than a stirring in father," he joked.

"Ew," Hermione gasped, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Don't even joke about that, Draco. I have no desire to get your father hot under the collar."

"That's good, because I hate it when my partner flirts with my father," Draco retorted jokingly, although Hermione could hear that underneath the jest there was something more serious in his words. In fact it made her wonder if Astoria hadn't been above flirting with Lucius.

"I am not going to flirt with anyone, but I do want to make a good impression," Hermione said, opening the wardrobe. "Which is why I needed to change."

"I still don't see why," Draco said. "You looked perfectly fine as you were."

"Draco, this is important," Hermione snapped, glaring at her husband. "I don't want to just look perfectly fine. I want to look like I'm suitable for the wife of the heir of the Malfoy fortune."

Crossing the bedroom, Draco gently turned Hermione away from the wardrobe and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You're more than suitable as my wife, you're perfect," he said sincerely. "This isn't about impressing my parents, Hermione. This is about my parents accepting us. I don't want you to try and be what you think they want as a daughter-in-law, I want them to accept you for who you are."

"And who am I?" Hermione whispered.

"You're the sort of witch who is completely comfortable in her own skin, and doesn't feel the need to dress up for anyone," Draco replied. "You're the sort of witch who wears jeans and a t-shirt on a weekend, and still looks beautiful. You need to be yourself, Hermione, not some perfect princess you think my parents want you to be."

"I guess you're right, but I can still find something casual but nicer than what I was wearing," Hermione conceded.

"That's fine, but change because you want to change, not because you think what you were wearing before isn't good enough to wear while having lunch with my parents. It's not like I'm going to change. They can take me as I am, or bugger off and leave us alone."

Hermione couldn't help but smile at Draco's attitude, even though she suspected most of it was a front and he was dreading that the day would go wrong and he would lose his parents. As for how he was dressed, he was wearing black trousers and a hunter green shirt with the top couple of buttons open. It was his usual casual, at home look, but Hermione suspected that usually when he was spending time with his parents, he made more of an effort to be as smart as they expected.

"I promise, I'll not go overboard," Hermione promised, giving her husband a quick kiss and stepping out of his embrace.

Despite her promise, Draco didn't leave her to it. Instead he perched on the end of the bed and watched as she settled on a pair of light grey trousers teamed with a purple and cream floaty top. With Draco watching her every move, she then untied her hair, and after brushing it again, she tied it back up as it was neater that way, unless she had hours to spend taming it, and she didn't have that sort of time today.

"Satisfied?" Hermione asked, turning to her husband.

"Very," Draco replied with a smile. Even though his wife was dressed smarter than she had been earlier, it was still a casual look and an honest representation of the sort of witch she was.

"Now let's hope your parents turn up," Hermione muttered as they headed back to the kitchen.

Once Hermione was satisfied that lunch was in hand, and thanks to magic wouldn't ruin, the couple settled in the front room. Draco's hadn't actually told his parents a time to arrive, he was just assuming they would turn up for around one, which was what time Sunday lunch at the manor was usually served. However as it crept nearer to one o'clock, both Hermione and Draco began to have their doubts about Draco's parents actually arriving. It was looking increasingly like they'd given their answer, and it wasn't the positive one the couple had been hoping for.

"Well, I guess that's that," Draco muttered a few minutes before one.

"I'm so sorry Draco," Hermione said, feeling terrible that she was the cause of such conflict between her husband and his parents. "I was sure they would show up."

"So was I," he replied quietly, just as the sound of the floo activating chimed.

Whirling around, Draco was slightly surprised to find his father stepping out of the fire. Moments later the floo sounded again, and this time Narcissa emerged. The older couple were both wearing the dress robes they still tended to favour, and they looked as smart and glamorous as they would have, had they being going somewhere public for lunch.

"Mother, Father," Draco greeted with a nod of his head. "We were beginning to think you weren't coming."

"You didn't give us a time, just the ultimatum," Lucius drawled.

"Sorry, I should have thought," Draco apologised.

"Never mind, we're here now," Lucius said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Can we get either of you a drink before lunch?" Hermione asked. "Or would you rather just eat now?"

"If lunch is ready, it's rude not to eat immediately," Narcissa replied. "I do trust you have wine to accompany the meal."

"Your favourite make," Draco informed his mother. "Would you like wine father, or would you rather have a glass of fire-whisky."

"I'll have wine with dinner," Lucius answered.

While Draco got his parents settled in the dining room, Hermione headed into the kitchen where she placed the vegetables into serving dishes, and spread the minted lamb chops on a platter. Once Draco had finished giving his parents their drinks, he came to help his wife in the kitchen and together they transported the meal into the dining room and placed the meal in the centre of the table.

"Help yourself to whatever you want," Hermione said. "I didn't want to dish up for people, as I didn't know what you liked or how much you wanted."

"Is this lamb?" Lucius asked as he speared one of the chops onto his fork.

"It is," Hermione replied. "You do like lamb, don't you? I did ask Draco if there was anything I shouldn't cook, and he didn't mention lamb."

"On the contrary, lamb is my favourite," Lucius replied with a slight smile. "And I do love it when it's smothered in minted gravy."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at Lucius's words, and her nerves were eased further when both Lucius and Narcissa took plenty of everything on offer. Draco also took a decent helping, and when Hermione started her own meal she was pleased to find that everything was cooked to perfection.

"Very nice," Narcissa remarked as she neared the end of her meal. "Did you hire a caterer, or use house elves?"

"No, I cooked myself," Hermione answered.

"Interesting," Narcissa murmured, and Hermione couldn't decide if her new mother-in-law was impressed with her culinary skills, or if she thought it was beneath a Malfoy to cook.

"Hermione is great in the kitchen," Draco enthused.

"There are other rooms a wife is more useful in," Lucius drawled.

"Father," Draco hissed, shooting Hermione and apologetic smile.

"There's no need to be prudish, Draco," Narcissa said. "A good wife should keep her husband satisfied in the bedroom. After all, if he's getting everything he needs at home, he won't be looking elsewhere."

"You mean like I did when I was with Astoria?" Draco questioned. He'd been wondering how long it would take before his parents brought up his ex, and even though his mother hadn't mentioned her, the implications of her words were plain to hear.

"Yes," Narcissa replied bluntly. "Despite my own feelings on the matter, I can concede that Astoria clearly wasn't keeping you satisfied."

"It wasn't anything to do with sex," Draco snorted. "I never loved Astoria, so we were never going to work out. It's different with Hermione. I love her."

"I should hope so after the trouble the pair of you have caused," Narcissa sniffed haughtily. "Do you have any idea the amount of looks and whispers I've had to endure this past week."

"I'm so sorry that my happiness is causing you such distress," Draco retorted snappishly.

"You just could have gone about things in a different way, Draco," Narcissa said softly. "That's what I'm having the most trouble with."

"Not me marrying Hermione?" Draco asked.

"I'm here, aren't I?" Narcissa replied. "I can't say I believe it's the best match, especially when it has all gone wrong once over. But you were right, Draco. I've always known that she was the only witch you loved, and I hope that this time everything will work out."

"Thank you mother," Draco said with a relieved smile.

"Don't thank me yet, there are still some conditions for my support," Narcissa said, a smirk appearing on her lips.

"Conditions?" Draco questioned, sharing a worried look with his wife.

"Why not discuss that after we've finished eating," Lucius suggested. "I take it there is dessert?"

"I've got a melt in the middle chocolate pudding and vanilla custard," Hermione said.

"Sounds good," Lucius said. "Don't you agree, Cissa?"

"I don't usually eat chocolate, but I can make an exception this once," Narcissa said, giving Hermione a smile that could almost be classed as friendly.

Dessert went down just as well as the main course, and Lucius even had a second helping of the home-made vanilla custard. However, dessert could only be dragged out so long before it was time to retire to the front room and find out just what Narcissa had meant about conditions. Draco poured himself and his father a glass of fire-whisky, and his mother and Hermione another glass of wine as the four adults settled in the front room to have a proper talk.

"So you mentioned conditions?" Draco prompted when his mother sipped on her wine and made no attempt to start the conversation.

"You're not the only one who can issue ultimatums, Draco," Narcissa said. "I'm sure you're both well aware how I feel about the way you handled the situation."

"We got that message loud and clear," Draco mumbled. He was still stinging from some of the things his mother had said, and the last thing he wanted was for her to repeat herself.

"I will say no more on the matter," Narcissa said. "And as our presence her today indicates, your father and I will accept your marriage to Hermione."

"Because you can do nothing about it?" Draco asked, looking more towards his father.

"There is that," Lucius admitted honestly. "But as your mother mentioned earlier, we both know how much you love your wife, and always have. Despite what you may think Draco, your happiness is very important to your mother and I."

"I appreciate that, and for the record, I'm very happy," Draco said. "But you still haven't mentioned any conditions."

"My conditions are simple really," Narcissa said. "I want the pair of you to help fix the family's reputation. The reputation, I might add, that you destroyed by marrying in the manner you did."

"How we can fix that?" Hermione asked with a confused frown. "We're sorry for the way we handled things, but we can't turn back the clock and do things differently. Not even a time turner will fix this."

"What's already done can't be undone, but we can make it more seemly," Narcissa explained. "Which is why, I want the pair of you to get remarried as soon as possible."

"You want us to marry again?" Draco questioned.

"Yes," Narcissa confirmed with a nod. "We can't wipe your original marriage under the carpet, but we can make it official. I want a large blessing for all of our friends and family to attend. I want to show the world that we Malfoys do things correctly, and your marriage is no exception."

"And you think a second wedding will stop people gossiping?" Draco questioned with a disbelieving laugh. "It's too late for that mother. It doesn't matter what we do, or what sort of ceremony we hold, everyone already knows we got married in Vegas."

"I'm aware of that Draco," Narcissa snapped. "But if we do this correctly, in a few years time, this will be the wedding people remember. I won't take no for an answer on this, if you want my support, you'll agree to remarry as soon as possible."

"Hermione?" Draco asked, turning to his wife. He personally had no problem with the second wedding, although he doubted it would be something either him or Hermione would have organised themselves, but it was worth it to keep his parents onside.

"I'm happy to get married again," Hermione agreed with a nod. Like Draco, she knew it was something they wouldn't have planned themselves, but she also agreed that it was a small price to pay to get her in-laws on side as they were now family and moving forward she would like a positive relationship with Draco's parents.

"In that case, we need to get cracking," Narcissa said. "I want this done as quickly as possible. I'm thinking two weeks at the most."

"Two weeks?" Hermione cried in surprise. "But Harry and Ginny are getting married in a little over three weeks."

"And?" Narcissa asked, confusion written all over her attractive face.

"And I can't get married before them," Hermione said. "Ginny already hates me. She'll kill me if we arrange a wedding before hers and steal the limelight."

"What utter nonsense," Narcissa tutted. "Your wedding has nothing to do with the Weasley girl. I won't be moved on this, Hermione. Either you and Draco remarry as soon as I can organise it, or else Lucius and I will not be condoning this union."

"Mother is right," Draco said gently. "This is nothing to do with Weaselette. It won't affect her wedding in the slightest."

"What's the betting she doesn't see it that way?" Hermione snorted.

"Does that mean you won't do it?" Narcissa asked.

"No, I'll do it," Hermione replied. "Ginny won't be happy, but if our second wedding falls before hers, then it's something she's going to have to deal with."

"Good, now I've already had a few ideas and I'm going to want your full involvement in this wedding, Hermione," Narcissa said. "You're a Malfoy now, and it's time you learned to put on a public display worthy of the family name."

As Narcissa began to reel off what needed to be sorted, Hermione shot Draco a horrified look. Something told her she had no idea just what she'd let herself in for by agreeing to go along with Narcissa's idea of a second wedding. It was already clear that Narcissa was planning the wedding of the year, and even wanting it to happen as soon as possible wasn't going to hinder her expectations. Obviously she thought she could pull off a spectacular wedding at short notice, and given the plans she was already talking about, Hermione had no doubt that she could manage it. The only problem was, by arranging such a fancy second wedding so close to Harry and Ginny's, Hermione could find herself even more in the cold with the Weasleys. It could even lead to the end of some friendships, although Hermione was hoping that it wouldn't come to that as she wasn't doing any of this to be spiteful. She was merely following her heart and putting herself, and her happiness, first for the first time in her life.


	16. Chapter 16

Standing in front of the floo network on Monday afternoon, Hermione took several deep breaths to settle her nerves. She was off to Malfoy Manor, but Draco wasn't with her as he was at work. However, Hermione had been summoned by her mother-in-law, and with no job to use as an excuse not to go, she couldn't refuse without coming off as rude. Besides, she was going to the manor to discuss the wedding, and even though the entire event was more about what Narcissa wanted, Hermione didn't want the entire thing to get out of hand and turn into something she wasn't happy with.

Steeling herself for the afternoon ahead, Hermione bit the bullet and picking up a handful of floo powder she headed to her husband's childhood home. Hermione arrived at the manor at a room specially designed for floo visitors, and no sooner had she stepped from the flames than a house elf appeared in the doorway of the room. Hermione still didn't believe in the use of house elves, but it was something she'd never managed to convince the Malfoys of during her first relationship with Draco. However, she was hoping that things might be different now was a Malfoy and officially part of the family. But today wasn't the time to press the issue of house elves and their use at the manor.

"Hello Mistress Hermione," the elf greeted in a high pitched voice. "I'm Misty."

"Hello Misty," Hermione replied with a warm smile. "There's no need to call me Mistress, just Hermione will do."

"Oh no. It has to be Mistress Hermione," Misty gasped in horror, shaking her little head. "Mistress Narcissa is waiting for you," she added hastily, not giving Hermione a chance to argue further.

Not wanting to distress the elf, Hermione let the matter drop and followed the small creature out of the floo room. Even though Hermione had visited the manor a couple of times with Draco when they'd first been together, she still didn't know her way around the vast house, so she stuck close to the elf as she led her through the winding corridors to wherever Narcissa was waiting for her.

Finally, the elf led Hermione into a brightly lit room, with a glass wall offering stunning views of the manor's grounds. Narcissa was sitting on a long cream sofa, and on the coffee table in front of her was spread pieces of parchment and various wedding paraphernalia.

"Misty, some tea would be greatly appreciated," Narcissa said to the elf as she gestured for Hermione to join her on the sofa.

"Yes Mistress Narcissa," Misty replied as she vanished with a pop.

"You look very organised, Narcissa," Hermione said politely as she sat down next to her mother-in-law.

"It's the only way to undertake such a massive task," Narcissa replied. "We've got a lot of work to get through Hermione if we want this wedding to take place any time soon."

"It doesn't have to happen in the next few weeks," Hermione offered. "We could always wait and plan a wedding for winter, or even next spring."

"No, it must be done quickly," Narcissa insisted with a shake of her head. "We need to limit the damage your quick wedding has done to our reputation, and that will only work if we rectify things immediately."

Hermione knew that she wouldn't change Narcissa's mind without an argument, so she said no more on the matter as Misty returned with a tray of tea and blueberry scones. Once the elf had gone again, Narcissa poured two cups of tea and handed one to Hermione.

"I've been looking into high class wedding venues, and there's no chance we can get one booked within the next few weeks," Narcissa began. "We're talking six months at the least."

"So how are we going to have the quick wedding you want?" Hermione asked, knowing that her mother-in-law would already have a solution to the problem of not been able to book a wedding venue.

"We're going to have it here at the manor," Narcissa announced. "We can either put up a marquee, or I was thinking about the lake. I don't know if Draco has ever shown you it, but we have a gorgeous lake further out in the grounds. There's a small island in the middle of the lake, and I was thinking we could erect a bridge over to the island, and you and Draco could say your vows on the island, with the guest sitting around the side of the lake."

"That sounds lovely," Hermione answered, thinking that it actually sounded like the perfect place to get married. "Very romantic."

"It could be," Narcissa agreed with a nod. "And of course we can hold the reception in one of the ballrooms. And since we don't need to book the venue, we can pick our own date. I was thinking two Sundays from now. It should give us more than enough time to sort everything."

Hermione could tell that the date wasn't negotiable, but she wasn't too taken with the timing. If she and Draco got married in a fortnight, it was just the weekend before Harry and Ginny were due to the tie the knot. She did agree with what Draco had said about their wedding having nothing at all to do with Ginny, but that didn't mean there wasn't going to be fireworks when the red-headed witch discovered that another wedding would be taking place just a week before her own.

"Is there a problem?" Narcissa asked and Hermione got the distinct impression that she knew full well where Hermione's thoughts lay.

"Could we move it back two more weeks?" Hermione asked.

"No, Lucius and I will be away then," Narcissa answered airily, leaving Hermione to suspect she'd just invented a holiday on the spur of the moment. "It's either in two Sunday's time, or the weekend after."

"Let's stick to the Sunday," Hermione muttered, not wanting to move the wedding to the same weekend as Harry and Ginny.

"I thought you might say that," Narcissa remarked with a sly smile as she picked up a buttered blueberry scone. "Now, I can arrange a minister to conduct the service, so that's no problem. I can also get a caterer at such short notice, and I have a friend who owns a bakery in Paris, and if we visit her tomorrow, she can make a wedding cake for us."

"We're going to France tomorrow?" Hermione frowned.

"We've got a lot to do tomorrow," Narcissa replied. "That's not a problem, is it? It's not like you've got a job to go to. Unless you would like to take Lucius up on his offer?"

The previous day when it had come up that Hermione no longer worked at the Ministry, both Lucius and Narcissa had been appalled to hear how she'd been treated. However, Lucius still held some sway with the Ministry and he'd promised Hermione that if she wanted her job back, or even another job at the Ministry, he could arrange it. Hermione had been touched by the offer, but she'd declined as she had no desire to go back to working at the Ministry where she was judged on her new surname, and not on all the years of hard work she'd done.

"No, I don't intend to go back to the Ministry," Hermione answered. "I'll find another job."

"In that case, you're free to help with the arrangements then," Narcissa said. "I know you think I'm being overbearing, Hermione, but I just want the day to be perfect. You and Draco might already be married, but for me, this is my only chance to watch my son get married. But I don't want to take over, I want you to be happy with the day as well. I want you to be able to look back on it, and think of it as a day to remember. I want to give you both the celebration you deserve to have."

"I appreciate that, thank you Narcissa," Hermione said with a soft smile, seeing for the first time just how much the day meant to Narcissa on a personal level, not just as a way of salvaging the Malfoys reputation.

"So you'll come with me tomorrow?" Narcissa checked.

"I will," Hermione replied with a nod.

"Good," Narcissa said with a smile. "But the cake isn't the only thing we've got to sort tomorrow. We don't have time to get you a dress made from scratch, and even though I've still got my wedding dress, I don't think it would really suit you."

Hermione didn't know what Narcissa's wedding dress looked like, but she knew that it would take some major alterations to turn a dress designed for Narcissa into one suitable for her. For a start Narcissa was several inches taller than Hermione, and while Hermione was by no means overweight, she was a lot curvier than Narcissa, who was incredibly slender. In fact the only way they were even a bit alike was the fact that they both had a decent cleavage.

"I have however been having a look at old records, and the wedding dress Lucius's mother wore is stored in the attic." Searching through some papers on the table, Narcissa picked up an old photo and handed it to Hermione. "I thought some alterations and it would be perfect."

The picture Hermione was holding showed an attractive blond couple, smiling happily at each other. The dress the witch was wearing was a long, fitted cream dress with long lace sleeves and an intricately detailed bodice. It was a stunning dress and Hermione could see how it could be easily adapted into something more modern.

"It's a gorgeous dress," she said.

"It is," Narcissa agreed. "And I don't think it will need much altering, as Lucius's mother was around your height and at the time of the wedding, she was expecting Lucius. Of course when Lucius was born just seven months after the wedding, it was said he was premature, but the truth was that his parents had been a bit careless leading up to their wedding."

Hermione chuckled slightly at the timing of Lucius's birth. Even though she'd never met Lucius's parents, nor would she as they were both dead, she could well imagine that they would want to maintain the family's reputation and not admit to having conceived a child before they were married.

"I've also got some rings for you to look at," Narcissa continued, picking up another handful of pictures and passing them over to her daughter-in-law. "I know you and Draco have rings, but I thought you could use a couple from the family collection for the second ceremony. It's a tradition in the Malfoy family that the wedding rings of each generation are preserved for future use. Lucius and I bought new rings when we got married, but we also used a set of rings belonging to his great grandparents. If you pick a set of rings for you and Draco to use, we can have them resized and any alterations made."

Flicking through the pictures of rings, Hermione discarded the flashier sets and pumped for an elegant set, with a plain gold ring for Draco and a small emerald ring for herself. It was actually just the sort of ring Hermione might have picked for herself, and she thought it would sit quite nicely with the wedding ring she and Draco had bought in Vegas.

"They belonged to Lucius's parents as well," Narcissa remarked with a smile when Hermione showed her which rings she preferred. "Maybe it's a sign. I do think Abraxas would have liked you. He always did like a fiery witch. Lucius's mother died before we got together, but she was apparently a bit of a firecracker."

"Does Lucius mind us using his parents rings and his mother's dress?" Hermione checked.

"Of course he won't," Narcissa replied. "But I can check tonight, if you want. And providing he has no problems with the arrangement, which he won't, we can take to the rings to the jewellers tomorrow and sort out a dressmaker who can make adjustments to the dress."

"Wow, It sounds like we have everything in hand," Hermione said.

"We just need the guest list," Narcissa said. "I'll handle the society set, but I would like you and Draco to draw up a list of your friends. If you have the lists to me by Wednesday, I can order the invitations and they can go out by the weekend. That will give people a week to reply to their invite."

"Is that enough time?" Hermione checked.

"It will be," Narcissa replied with a nod. "I doubt many people will need a week to reply to an invitation to a Malfoy wedding."

While Hermione's thoughts lingered on the guest list, and the fact she would have to warn her friends before they received the invite in the post, Narcissa quickly went over a couple more things that needed to be arranged. Less than an hour later, they were finished and with plans made to meet the following day, Hermione headed home and sent an owl to Harry, asking if her best friend would meet her for a drink. The least she could do was warn her best friends that just a week before they were going to be married, she and Draco would be having a second wedding and Narcissa was fully intending it would be a wedding to remember.


	17. Chapter 17

Sitting with Ron in their favourite pub, Harry's eyes kept drifting towards the doors as he wondered if he'd done the right thing. Shortly before leaving work, he'd received an owl from Hermione asking if they could meet up, so he'd sent her a message back arranging for her to join him and Ron in the pub. The only thing was, he hadn't mentioned Ron's presence to Hermione, nor had he informed his best friend that their other friend was due to join them.

The truth was, Harry was hoping that some bridges could be built between his two best friends. He hated the fact they were at odds with each other, and all he wanted was for everyone to get along. The problem was, he couldn't force Ron to accept things with Hermione's marriage. Whereas with Ginny, he'd put his foot down and informed his fiancée that Hermione was his best friend and would be attending their wedding with her husband, or else there were going to be problems. However, he couldn't take the same stance with Ron. All he could do was hope that bringing Hermione and Ron together would help ease the tension between them.

Since Harry was on the lookout for Hermione, he spotted her the moment she entered the pub. However, Ron spotted her as soon as she started to head their way, and from his grumbling, Harry could tell he wasn't happy to see their friend. However, he was and he greeted Hermione with a warm smile and an offer for a drink.

"I'll have a glass of rose wine please," Hermione said as she slid into an empty seat at the table.

"I'll get them," Ron muttered, finishing off his own drink and stalking off to the bar.

"You didn't tell Ron I was coming, did you?" Hermione asked Harry once they were alone.

"I may have failed to mention it," Harry admitted. "I was hoping that once you turned up, Ron would be pleased to see you and you could both make your peace."

"I'm not the one with the problem, Harry," Hermione said. "I don't have a problem with Ron. He has the problem with me, or rather he has a problem with my husband."

"He'll come round," Harry said reassuringly.

"I hope so," Hermione replied as she spotted Ron returning with the drinks.

Placing the drinks on the table, Ron slid back into his seat, although Hermione noticed he'd yet to greet her or even ask how she was doing since they'd last seen each other, the day she'd left the Ministry.

"I have something for you," Harry said to Hermione, breaking the silence that had fallen over the table. Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out an elegant cream envelope and handed it to his best friend.

Hermione instantly knew it was an invitation to Harry and Ginny's wedding, as she'd seen the invitations which had been sent out months previously. Opening up the invitation, she couldn't help but smile at the fact Harry had clearly wrote the invitation and it was addressed to Hermione and Draco Malfoy.

"Thank you," she said, giving Harry a smile. "Although you might want to take it back when I tell you my news."

"Of course I won't want to take it back," Harry tutted. "I wouldn't dream of getting married without my best friends there to witness it."

"Unlike some people, who sneak off and do it on the quiet," Ron remarked cattily.

"It's actually my wedding I want to talk to you about," Hermione said, ignoring Ron's barb as she knew from experience that arguing with her friend only made him worse. "You know that we were hoping that Draco's parents would accept us."

"Did they turn up for lunch?" Harry asked, eager to hear what had happened with his best friend and his parents-in-law.

"They did," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "And they've agreed to accept our marriage."

"That's great news, Hermione," Harry gushed with a wide smile. "Isn't it?" he asked when he noticed Hermione still looked worried about something.

"It is," Hermione replied. "But Narcissa had a condition to accepting our marriage. She wants us to do it again."

"So she can be there to see her only son get married?" Harry checked.

"More like she thinks another wedding will make people forget about the shame of the first one," Ron snorted. "As if that's going to happen. Like it or not Hermione, you're always going to be known as the witch who stole another woman's man and tied the knot in Vegas."

"I didn't steal, Draco," Hermione argued, even though technically she knew that was exactly what she had done.

"That's not what it looks like," Ron remarked with a shrug. "The fact is, Malfoy went to Vegas engaged to Astoria Greengrass and returned married to you. It's a scandal, Hermione, and some pathetic second wedding won't wipe out the tainted first one."

"It's not all about trying to restore the family's reputation," Hermione argued.

"But it is partly about that?" Harry asked, shooting Ron a warning look to get him to keep quiet for a few minutes.

"Yes," Hermione admitted. "Narcissa wasn't at all happy with the scandal we've caused and she wants to try and fix our reputation. So yes, one of the reasons she wants a second wedding is to try and rewrite history. But another reason is the fact she wants to see her only son get married. This is her only chance to watch Draco get married."

"I think it's a lovely idea," Harry said, giving Hermione a reassuring smile. "And I hope it means we all get to witness the happy event ourselves."

"Yes, it's going to be a proper wedding," Hermione replied. "And I want all my friends to be there," she added pointedly, looking at Ron.

"Why would I want to watch you throw your life away on a loser who doesn't deserve you?" Ron snorted. "You can do better than Malfoy, Hermione. You got away from him once, do it again before it's too late."

"I did not get away from Draco, we let ourselves be torn apart, both by other people and our grief over losing our baby," Hermione hissed. "And if you were any sort of friend, Ron, you would know how miserable I've been without him in my life. I love him, and I'm happy again. Is it too much to ask that my friends are happy for me?"

"Please Ron," Harry begged quietly. "After all we've been through together, surely you don't want this to be the end? Surely you want Hermione to be happy."

"Of course I want her to be happy," Ron cried. "I just don't think that Malfoy can make her happy, not in the long run."

"Isn't that my decision to make?" Hermione questioned. "If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, Ron. You can even say I told you so if it all goes wrong. But right now, I'm in love and I'm happy, and all I want is for my two best friends to agree to come to my wedding."

"Okay, I'll come to the wedding," Ron conceded. "And I won't say another word against Malfoy. But when he breaks your heart, and he will break your heart again, Hermione, I will be saying I told you so."

"Fair enough," Hermione said with a nod, even though she was confident Ron would never get a chance to say 'I told you so' as her marriage was going to last.

"So when are you thinking about having this second wedding?" Harry asked, pleased that Ron had at least agreed to attend the wedding without too much of a fuss.

"Narcissa wants it as soon as possible," Hermione admitted with a slight grimace. "And this is the part you won't like. We're getting married in two Sundays time."

"And?" Harry questioned with a slight shrug, before he did the maths and panic slowly filled his green eyes. "Oh shit."

"Exactly," Hermione muttered. "It's the weekend before your wedding."

"That is just cruel," Ron spat. "Do you really have to steal Ginny's limelight like that?"

"This isn't about stealing anyone's limelight," Hermione argued. "Narcissa wants the second wedding as soon as possible, and that's the best date."

"You couldn't have waited a couple of weeks and gotten married after Harry and Ginny?" Ron asked.

"No," Hermione answered. "Our options were two Sunday's time, or the weekend after. I wasn't going for the weekend after as that would be cruel to Ginny. This way, Draco and I will have already been married and the entire focus will be on Ginny and Harry on their big day."

"If you really believe that then you're stupid," Ron snorted. "The weekend in Vegas turned out to be all about you and Malfoy, and now you're going to do the same with the wedding. All anyone will be able to do at Ginny's wedding is compare it to the one the week before."

"I know the timing isn't perfect, but it's all sorted now," Hermione said.

"And you couldn't have said no?" Ron demanded. "All you've said is that Narcissa wants this wedding. What do you want, Hermione? Are you really so pathetic that you can't stand up to your mother-in-law and tell her to go sod herself?"

"And what if I want this wedding as much as Narcissa?" Hermione questioned. "What if I want this chance to get married in front of my friends and family? I don't regret marrying Draco, but I do wish we'd been able to do it properly. This is my chance to get the wedding I deserve, so no, I wasn't going to tell Narcissa to get lost. You're right Ron, I could have put my foot down and argued for a later date, but the truth is, I don't want to wait. I want the second wedding Narcissa is planning."

"Well, I doubt you're going to have many guests," Ron remarked. "I can't see Ginny attending, and Mum will not be happy about the timing."

"And you?" Hermione asked quietly. "Will you also be boycotting the wedding?"

"I bloody well should," Ron snapped. "But I won't," he added in softer voice. "I've already agreed to come to the wedding, and since you're my best friend, I won't let you down. But just for the record, I do think you're being cruel to Ginny by holding your wedding the weekend before hers."

"It's not about Ginny," Hermione said softly as she turned to Harry. "I don't mean to be insensitive, Harry, but none of this is about you and Ginny. The timing of everything is just really bad."

"I know," Harry said with a small smile. "I know you're not vindictive, Hermione. You weren't to know you were going to reunite with Malfoy, and you weren't to know his mother would want you to have a second wedding so close to ours. And you're completely right, this has nothing to do with Ginny and I. Our wedding is about us, and yours is about you and Malfoy."

"So you're not mad about the timing?" Hermione checked.

"No," Harry replied. "But as Ron said, Ginny won't be happy. I can make sure she doesn't rescind your invite to our wedding, but I can't guarentee she'll be attending yours."

"I don't want to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do, but I will include her on the invitation," Hermione said. "I would like her there, but I can understand if she feels she can't come. But you'll be there, won't you, Harry?"

"Just you try and stop me," Harry grinned, reaching across the table and squeezing Hermione's hand. "I'll be there."

"Then I'm happy," Hermione said, smiling at both of her best friends. "As long as you two are there, I'm happy."

"Just be ready for the fireworks from my sister," Ron advised as he got to his feet. "Sorry, I've got to go. I'm taking Lavender out for dinner this evening."

"I really am sorry about the timing," Hermione said to Harry as Ron departed the pub and the pair were left alone.

"It doesn't matter to me," Harry replied with a slight shrug. "But it probably will to Ginny," he confessed in a small voice. "She's got it into her head that you've done this all to spite her, and nothing I can say can make her see sense. It took me long enough, and quite a few threats, to get her to agree to allow you to come to the wedding."

"I don't know why she's so threatened by me," Hermione said with a puzzled frown. "I'm thrilled that you and her are getting married."

"I think she's jealous of our relationship," Harry replied. "I know it's not romantic, and so does Ginny, but I still think she's jealous of the connection we've got. She knows that you're the only other witch, aside from her, that I truly love. I would do anything for you, Hermione, and I don't think Ginny can real deal with that. But she's going to have to learn how to deal, as I'm not letting you go. You're like my sister, and no matter what happens, we'll always be in each other's lives."

"I really hope so, Harry," Hermione said in an emotion filled voice. "I love you too, and I can't image my life without you in it."

"You won't have to," Harry replied. "But how does Malfoy feel about sharing you?"

"Draco knows that I love him, but he also knows that I love you and Ron in a very different way," Hermione replied. "He's not threatened by that, as he knows that he has my heart."

Wondering how he could get Ginny to see things the same way as Draco, Harry enjoyed another drink with Hermione before he headed home to break the news of his best friend's wedding to his fiancé. As expected, Ginny did not take it well, and she downright refused to attend the wedding. Harry did try and calm her down, and by the time he went to bed, he thought he had succeeded. What he didn't know was that Ginny was making plans to visit Hermione and to let her know exactly what she thought of her.


	18. Chapter 18

When Hermione arrived at the manor to meet up with Narcissa, she found she was actually looking forward to arranging her wedding. It had been so easy to get carried away with the wedding being what Narcissa wanted, that Hermione hadn't realised just how much she wanted a second one until Ron had brought it up the previous evening. To be honest it wasn't until Ron had accused her of letting Narcissa walk all over her that Hermione realised that she was every bit as keen as her mother-in-law to have a second wedding with all her friends and family in attendance. As much as she didn't regret marrying Draco, Hermione couldn't deny that she was looking forward to getting the chance to get married properly.

"We've got a lot to get through today," Narcissa announced when she greeted Hermione upon her arrival. "Last night, I sent the rings to the best jeweller's in Diagon Alley. He's going to make some suggestions on alterations when we go and see him this afternoon. I also contacted that pretty little bridal boutique in Diagon Alley, and the owner seems quite happy to alter a dress for us."

"You've hired Parvati to alter my dress?" Hermione questioned.

"That's isn't a problem, is it?" Narcissa asked with a slight frown. "We could go elsewhere, but I've seen some of her designs in the window, and I think she would be perfect for the job. She seems to understand how to make things modern, but yet still regaining an air of elegance."

"No, it's just that Parvati is providing the outfits for Ginny's wedding," Hermione replied.

"I'm sure we can arrange our fittings at different times," Narcissa replied with a delicate shrug of her shoulder. "So as long as you're fine with the choice, I'll have one of the elves drop the dress of this morning, and again we can visit this afternoon to discuss details."

"I'm happy with Parvati sorting the dress," Hermione said. "And I take it this means Lucius was okay with me using his mother's dress and us using his parents rings?"

"He couldn't be happier," Narcissa said. "Now let me give some instructions to the elves and we can leave. Marianne is expecting us."

Marianne was Narcissa's friend who owned a Parisian bakery. She was a chic witch in her mid-forties, with a glossy mane of black hair neatly pinned to the top of her head and a soft French accent. After greeting Narcissa with kisses to both cheeks and exclaiming how good she was looking, she turned to Hermione and gave her an appreciative smile.

"Such a pretty little thing," she noted. "Your son is a very lucky man, Narcissa."

"My son is a very troublesome man," Narcissa retorted.

"Ah, the secret wedding," Marianne chuckled. "Such romance."

"Such scandal," Narcissa corrected.

"I prefer romance, myself," Marianne said, giving Hermione a conspiratorial wink.

Hermione was immediately taken with the lovely French witch, and she couldn't help but smile back at Marianne. Although even Narcissa had the hint of a smile on her face, and there was a light-hearted atmosphere as Marianne settled them her private back room, where they would taste some cakes, and pick the ones they wanted, and sort out the design of the cake.

Despite not really being a sweet person, Hermione enjoyed every mouthful of soft, delicate cake Marianne urged her to try. Every cake was baked to perfection, and Hermione had never tasted such delicious cakes in all her life.

"These are amazing," she remarked as she finished a mouthful of Peach Bellini cake.

"Thank you," Marianne replied with a smile. "Do you have a favourite?"

"I love the lemon meringue one," Hermione said. "But Draco isn't a fan of lemons."

"No, it's not really his sort of thing," Narcissa agreed. "I quite like the white chocolate and raspberry. It's nice and refreshing."

"I enjoyed that as well," Hermione said with a nod.

"It is the perfect cake for a wedding cake," Marianne remarked. "I make what people want, but I always prefer a light cake for a wedding cake. And the raspberry one has that hint of sharpness to it."

"I think that's settled then," Narcissa said. "We'll go for white chocolate and raspberry."

"Now for the hard bit, picking a design for the cake," Marianne chuckled as she jotted a note down on some parchment and handing Hermione and Narcissa a pretty cream book trimmed with purple lace. "I can do custom designs, but these are some of the designs I do most regularity Just remember, I don't have a lot of time for your cake. I can do you something lovely, but not too extravagant."

"I don't want extravagant, I want something elegant and beautiful," Hermione said, pleased to see Narcissa nodding along approvingly at her thoughts.

After flicking through the designs, Hermione and Narcissa settled on a simple three tiered square cake. The cake itself would be covered in ivory icing decorated with delicate gold and lilac frosted roses. Marianne also promised a miniature bride and groom for the top of the cake, and she told Narcissa that if she sent pictures of Hermione's dress, she could make sure the mini bride was dressed the same as the actual bride. She also promised that the bride and groom would look just like Hermione and Draco.

"It is going to be stunning," Hermione said as Marianne magically whipped up a hologram representation of what she hoped the cake would look like.

"Stunning is my job," Marianne replied with a delicate laugh. "And just remember me when you have children, I do the most adorable christening and birthday cakes."

At the mention of children, Hermione's heart contracted and she was filled with longing for the child she'd lost. She would give anything for her child to be here to witness their parents getting married. But then again, if their child had survived, she and Draco would likely have been together for all these years and would probably have been married for several years by now.

"Are you okay?" Narcissa asked gently as they left the bakery. "Marianne didn't mean to upset you."

"I know," Hermione replied, attempting to smile, but knowing that it didn't really work. "I keep thinking that it shouldn't really hurt this much after so long, but it still does. I can go for days and be just fine, then someone mentions babies and all I can think about is my poor lost baby."

"I wish I could tell you it gets better, but the truth is, I just don't know," Narcissa said softly. "I've never suffered the loss you and Draco have. I'm only sorry Lucius and I weren't more supportive at the time."

"It's done now," Hermione said with a shrug, not wanting to hold grudges against everyone who was against her and Draco when they were first together, or else they wouldn't have anyone in their lives. "Hopefully one day, we will get that little baby."

"Maybe we should plant a rose bush at the manor," Narcissa suggested. "Abraxas planted one when his wife died, and even now, it brings such comfort to Lucius. It might be a nice way of honouring your baby."

"I like that idea," Hermione said with a smile as they prepared to head back to England and go to Diagon Alley.

Back home, the two witches stopped at a small riverside café for a bite of lunch before they made their way to Diagon Alley. Their first stop was the jeweller's, where they were ushered into the back room, where the jeweller himself showed them his ideas for the two rings. For forty minutes, Hermione and Narcissa compared the designs, adding suggestions of their own, until they were satisfied with the alterations they wanted making. With the jeweller promising them priority service, Narcissa paid the deposit and two witches made their way to Parvati's bridal boutique.

"Hermione, it's lovely to see you again," Parvati greeted, smiling widely at Hermione. "And it's very nice to meet you, Mrs Malfoy."

"Miss Patil," Narcissa returned with a polite incline of her head. "You have a lovely shop here. I've often admired your stunning dresses."

"Thank you, that means so much coming from someone as stylish as you," Parvati replied with a slight blush. In Wizarding Britain you couldn't get more stylish than Narcissa Malfoy, and Parvati couldn't be happier that the older witch liked her designs.

"I trust you can do something with the dress I sent you," Narcissa said.

"Oh yes, it is such a beautiful dress," Parvati gushed. "I'm going to be honoured to work on it."

"Let's hope it's not wasted on me," Hermione laughed.

"Don't say such a thing, Hermione, you're beautiful," Parvati scolded.

"I'm not beautiful, Parvati," Hermione replied with a dismissive shrug of the shoulder. "You're beautiful. Narcissa is beautiful. I'm fairly plain."

"You've got a distinct lack of confidence in yourself," Narcissa tutted. "You really are a lovely witch, Hermione."

"I've always thought so," Parvati said. "Even in school when you made no effort, you were naturally pretty. Lavender used to be so jealous of you."

"Lavender was never jealous of me," Hermione snorted. "She used to spend all her time telling me how plain and boring I was."

"She was jealous," Parvati said decisively. "Probably still is knowing Lav. The fact of the matter is, you're beautiful Hermione, and you're going to be a stunning bride."

Hoping that Parvati was right, Hermione followed her and Narcissa into one of the private rooms. The dress was already waiting for them, and Parvati asked her to change into it so they could check out the fit and see what alternations needed to be done. When Hermione put on the dress, she instantly felt like some sort of fairytale princess. Even though it clearly needed some alterations, and some modernisation, it was the most sunning dress she'd ever worn.

"Wow," Parvati gasped when Hermione emerged from the changing room. "That dress is perfect for you."

"It's lovely," Narcissa agreed.

Positioning herself in front of the mirror, she allowed Parvati and Narcissa to take charge of sorting the alterations and modernisations. Fashion wasn't really her forte, and she trusted both witches to make the dress as stunning as possible without losing the magical essence it currently possessed.

"How many fitting will we need?" Narcissa asked as Parvati made detailed notes of all the alterations.

"Only a couple I think," Parvati said. "I can do the bulk of the work pretty much straight away. After that it'll be tweaking and perfecting. And I always recommend a fitting as close to the big day as you can manage."

"How about the morning of the wedding?" Narcissa asked. "I can arrange for you to come to the manor?"

"That would be perfect," Parvati replied with a nod, hiding her excitement at getting an invite to the largest private, not to mention poshest, residence in wizarding Britain.

"Is that okay with you, Hermione?" Narcissa asked as her daughter-in-law headed back towards the changing rooms to remove the dress and change back into her normal clothes.

"That's fine," Hermione called back over her shoulder. "Just remember when we make the appointment, I don't want any overlap with Ginny. I think the further away from her I stay, the better it is for everyone."

Luckily for Hermione, it was easy for Parvati to make sure Hermione's fitting times were no-where near Ginny's. However, even Parvati couldn't control fate and just as Hermione and Narcissa stepped out of the bridal boutique, Ginny and her mother emerged from the flower shop opposite.

"You," Ginny hissed, advancing on Hermione. "I've been looking for you."

"You have?" Hermione asked warily.

"I went round to the penthouse, but you weren't there," Ginny replied. "Harry told me what you're planning."

"You make it sound as though we're plotting some evil scheme," Narcissa remarked with a tinkling laugh. "It's only a wedding, dear."

"A wedding the weekend before mine," Ginny spat angrily. "I can see what you're doing, Hermione."

"I'm not doing anything, Ginny," Hermione said calmly. "I've already apologised for the timing of what happened in Vegas, but I won't apologise for marrying the wizard I love."

"But you could get married any-time," Ginny wailed. "Why are you doing this when it should be my time to shine? Everyone should be focused on my wedding. But all anyone can talk about is you. You stole the limelight in Vegas, and now you're doing it again. Even at my own wedding all anyone will be able to talk about is you. Everyone will compare the two weddings."

"Then surely that is the fault of the shallow people attending the weddings," Narcissa remarked. "Anyone who attends a wedding and doesn't give the proper respect for the bride has no manners."

"Anyone who hijacks another bride's wedding has no manners," Molly spat, glaring at Narcissa. "You just want to humiliate my daughter. This charade of a wedding can take place any time, it doesn't have to be the week before my Ginny's."

"This wedding is not a charade," Narcissa hissed.

"Of course it is," Molly shouted, aware that people had stopped to watch, but not caring in the slightest. "Everyone knows Hermione and your son got married in Las Vegas. It was cheap and nasty, and they're already married. This farce won't change that, Narcissa. Your son will always be known as the wizard who dumped his fiancée and married his ex-girlfriend in a seedy little American city."

"Stop it," Hermione ordered, sensing that Narcissa was going to snap back at Molly, and she suspected her mother-in-law would be quite brutal in her response. "No-one wants to fight," she said gently to Molly and Ginny. "I've already told Harry that I'll understand if you don't want to come to the wedding."

"That's big of you," Ginny sneered. "And don't worry, I will not be coming to your pathetic little wedding. And if it wasn't for Harry, I wouldn't be allowing you within an inch of mine. I hate you Hermione Granger, and I will never forgive you for this."

"Malfoy," Narcissa corrected loudly, as she slipped her arm through Hermione's. "Hermione is a Malfoy, and I thank Merlin that she has more class than to throw insults in the streets. It really is most common."

"I'll show you common," Ginny swore, lunging towards Hermione and raising her hand as if to strike her.

However, Narcissa was faster and within a blink of an eye, she had her wand out and pressed against Ginny's throat, stopping her in her tracks.

"If you ever raise your hand to a member of my family again I will curse you so hard your head will be spinning for a week," she hissed menacingly. "And that goes for you too, Mrs Weasley," she added, noticing that Molly had removed her own wand. "Now if you'll excuse me, my daughter-in-law and I have things to do."

With her head held high, Narcissa put her wand away and breezed past the two stunned Weasleys, with Hermione still by her side. Part of Hermione felt as though she should turn back and apologise, but another part of her knew that she'd done nothing to apologise for. Ginny and Molly had been the ones determined to turn the meeting into a slanging match, and it had been Ginny who would have hit her had Narcissa not intervened. So maybe it was better if Hermione and Narcissa just walked away, at least then no-one could say they'd been out to cause trouble. Not that the same could be said of the Weasleys, and Hermione knew that the incident would reach the papers sooner or later, and unless a lot of lies were going to be told, it would be Ginny and Molly who would come out of it looking petty, not her and Narcissa.


	19. Chapter 19

Hermione groaned as she glanced over her husband's shoulder upon entering the kitchen and spotted The Daily Prophet were still running with the story of her so-called feud with Ginny. It hadn't been at all surprising that the incident in Diagon Alley had quickly featured in the gossip pages, but rather than the story appearing once and dying out, it was fuelled by talk of a feud. A source close to Ginny, who Hermione suspected was Lavender, had apparently claimed that Hermione was deliberately trying to overshadow Ginny and was doing her best to ruin her wedding. Although Ginny herself had remained quiet on the subject, and Hermione was doing the same. After all, she had more class than to respond to some trash being wrote in The Daily Prophet. Not that it made it any less frustrating to read the lies and to know that people who didn't know her might well believe what was being written about her.

"We could sue the paper," Draco offered, closing the paper and pulling Hermione down onto his lap. "I'm sure they're breaking some laws given what they're saying about you."

"And I'm just as sure that they've been very careful to make sure their tone is merely suggestive," Hermione retorted. "Besides, I don't want the fuss suing would cause. I'd rather forget about it. The stories have to end some time, don't they?"

"You would think so, but I would also think they're going to get worse before they get better," Draco replied. "After all, we're getting married next weekend and the Weaslette's wedding is the weekend after."

"Don't call her that Draco," Hermione scolded, lightly hitting her husband on his arm. "How are we ever all going to get along if you insist on calling her by that old nickname."

"I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I don't ever see us all getting along," Draco said gently. "Once she's calmed down and the weddings are over, she might see sense, but then again she might not. She might hold this against us forever. And even if she doesn't, I don't think she'll ever like me. Nor will that brother of hers."

"I guess you're right," Hermione conceded with a sigh. "Although, it's Harry I really feel sorry for in all this mess. He's well and truly stuck in the middle. He's doing his best to understand and be supportive, and I know he just wants me to be happy, but at the same time he's got Ron moaning that you're going to break my heart and Molly and Ginny accusing me of being out to upstage Ginny. Sometimes I worry that being friends with me is going to damage his relationship with his family."

"I have to admit, Potter has been a lot more supportive than I thought he would be," Draco admitted. "Clearly he's grown a back-bone over the years. And I honestly think that if he values your friendship as much as he seems to do, he'll find a way to deal with his family."

"I hope so, because I really don't want to lose Harry," Hermione said. "I just wish everything wasn't so complicated."

"I can't help there, but I do have an idea that might help ease the tension," Draco replied.

"I'm open to all suggestions," Hermione chuckled as she got off Draco's lap and poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"It occurred to me last night that we still haven't arranged a honeymoon," Draco said. "Obviously we didn't have one after Vegas, and we can't go away after our second wedding, not if you want to attend Potter's big day."

"Which I do," Hermione clarified with a nod. Despite the earlier problems, Harry had assured her more than once that Draco would be welcome at the wedding, and providing that recent events hadn't changed that, she wouldn't be missing Harry's wedding for anything.

"So how about we go after that," Draco suggested. "And I'm not just talking about a bog-standard honeymoon where you spend a couple of weeks in the sun having as much sex as possible."

"You don't want to have as much sex as possible?" Hermione questioned with a laugh.

"That's pretty much a given. We'd never get out of bed if I had my way," Draco returned with a wolfish grin. "But I meant I don't just want a standard holiday. I was thinking we could take a decent break."

"How long is a decent break?" Hermione asked.

"A year, eighteen months," Draco replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"A year?" Hermione spluttered. "Could we do that?"

"Hermione, we can do whatever we want," Draco assured his wife. "It's our lives, and personally after so many years apart, I can't think of anything I would rather do than spend a year travelling the world with you. You can make a list of all the places you've ever wanted to go and all the things you've ever wanted to do, and we can tick them all off the list."

"But what about real life?" Hermione queried. "What about your business?"

"Contrary to how to behaves most of the time, Blaise isn't totally irresponsible. He could handle the business just fine on his own," Draco replied. "Besides, we'd only be travelling. It's not like we're dropping off the face of the earth. We can keep in touch with everyone. We could even visit a few of our hotels around the world if we want. Just think about it Hermione. Just think of all the time we'd have to just be together. And then when we're ready we can come home and find somewhere proper to live."

"And I can find a job," Hermione remarked.

"That's easy," Draco said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You could come and work with Blaise and I. You could go and work with father in the family business, so maybe one day he could retire. Or you could even set up your own business. And of course, you don't even have to work if you don't want to. You can do whatever you want, Hermione. But first, let's enjoy our first year of married life by seeing the world."

"Okay, but I have a condition," Hermione replied with a smile.

"Whatever you want," Draco said, returning his wife's smile.

"You also make a list of places you've always wanted to go and things you've always wanted to do," Hermione instructed. "We can complete both lists before we come home."

"You're on," Draco agreed, hardly able to wait until the day they could leave all their problems behind and head off to really start their life together as a married couple.

**.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.**

Neither Draco or Hermione were sure how his parents would take the news they were planning a long honeymoon following their second wedding, but when they visited the manor the following day Lucius and Narcissa were both very supportive. They both agreed it might very well be a wise thing to do for the couple to go travelling and give themselves some space from the gossip that was still swirling around the wizarding world. And then hopefully by the time they came home and were ready to settle down the way in which they'd gotten married would be old news and all that mattered to people was that they were married.

"And what do you think about my idea of Hermione possibly joining the family business?" Draco asked his father. "It could mean you can think about retiring."

"Is it something your wife would be interested in?" Lucius asked, avoiding the question until he knew what Hermione thought of the idea.

"I'm open to considering it," Hermione replied. "But only with your approval. I have no intention of forcing myself on you, Lucius."

"I should hope not," Lucius replied in a steely tone. "And yes, it is something I would consider. The truth is, I would one day like to think about retiring, and I would like to hand the company over to another Malfoy. Since things didn't work out with Draco, I was thinking I might have to wait until my grandson was ready to take over. But I suppose you might be the perfect answer, Hermione. Providing of course I think you can handle the business."

"Hermione could handle the business no problem," Draco said confidently. "She'd be a major asset, father."

"I guess we'll find out when the time comes," Lucius remarked. "But since it won't be until after your honeymoon, there's no point debating the matter now. We can discuss it further at the time. If of course it's still an issue. By then she might have decided to go in a different direction career wise, or the pair of you might be embarking on a different sort of path."

"What sort of path?" Draco asked with a confused frown.

"I think your father is talking about children," Hermione said quietly.

"I would have thought that starting a family was in your future," Lucius said.

"We haven't actually discussed it," Draco admitted, checking that Hermione was okay as she'd gone quiet at the mention of children.

"Lucius, don't be so insensitive," Narcissa hissed, glaring at her husband. "Today of all days is not the day to be discussing a future family."

"Sorry, I didn't think," Lucius apologised, actually looking pretty sheepish when he recalled just why Draco and Hermione were at the manor.

As discussed, Narcissa had arranged for a rose bush to be planted in the manor gardens in honour of the baby Hermione and Draco had lost. And the young couple were at the manor to plant the bush and honour the child they'd never had the chance to meet.

"On that note, perhaps we should head outside," Narcissa suggested.

"I think it's best before father puts his foot in his mouth again," Draco agreed.

"It really isn't a problem," Hermione assured everyone as the got to their feet to go out into the garden. "The topic of having a family was going to be raised sooner or later."

"Even so, my timing could have been better," Lucius admitted.

Accepting that Lucius's timing probably wasn't the best, Hermione accompanied her husband and his parents out into the manor gardens. Narcissa led them to the rose gardens, and they stopped at a picturesque corner, which overlooked a small pond where some ducks were swimming. A space was already prepared for the rose bush, and Draco did the honours of nestling the bush into the ground and covering it was compost.

"Do you want to do the honours of watering it?" Narcissa asked, handing Hermione an ornate pale green watering can.

Stepping forward, Hermione sprinkled some water onto the bush and gasped when the bush doubled in size and buds began to appear on it's branches.

"The watering can is enchanted," Narcissa explained, noting Hermione's surprise. "It ensures the plants take and flower. Of course they will only survive and keep flowering if they're looked after, but you don't have to worry about that, Hermione. This bush will never be neglected."

"Thank you," Hermione whispered, gazing down at the memorial bush.

"I hope you don't mind, but we also bought a new bench and added a plaque," Narcissa said, gesturing to the dark wooden bench that was sitting behind the bush.

Moving to get a better look at the bench and it's plaque, Hermione felt tears spring to her eyes. The plaque read – 'For our lost angel. We may never have held you, or known you, but we will always love and remember you.'

"Thank you mother, it's lovely," Draco said thickly as he wrapped his arms around Hermione.

"We'll give you some time," Narcissa said. "We'll have dinner once you're ready."

Left alone, Hermione and Draco settled themselves onto the bench which was dedicated to their lost child.

"It's beautiful," Hermione whispered, gently running her fingers over the silver plaque and it's touching words.

"It is," Draco agreed. "Father said we could add a name if we wanted."

"What name?" Hermione asked softly. "We don't even know if we've lost a son or a daughter. I don't know about you, but when I think of our child, I sometimes think of a boy and sometimes a girl. I've never thought of a name in my head. I don't know if it feels right to think of a name now."

"I know what you mean," Draco agreed with a nod. "I actually think 'our lost angel' works perfectly. After all, that's what he or she is. Our little angel whom we never got the chance to know."

"Let's leave it as it is," Hermione decided.

Nodding his agreement, Draco reached across the bench and took hold of Hermione's hand. For ten minutes they sat on the bench, talking about the baby they'd lost, before they headed back into the manor to re-join Draco's parents. Once back in the house they both thanked Lucius and Narcissa again for their lovely gesture with the bush and the bench. Hermione was especially touched as for her she felt the inclusion of the bush and bench at the manor meant that Draco's parents had finally accepted her as part of the family. And even though she was technically already a Malfoy, she couldn't help but feel that it would be the following weekend when she and Draco held a second wedding ceremony when she would truly become a Malfoy.


	20. Chapter 20

Just over an hour before she was due to be married for the second time, Hermione got some time on her own. All morning she'd been in a bedroom at the manor with Narcissa, preparing for the wedding. Parvati had made the final adjustments to her dress, which she wasn't yet wearing, a professional hair-dresser had curled and pinned up her hair and Narcissa herself had done Hermione's make-up. And with Narcissa going off to get ready for the wedding before she would return to help Hermione into her dress, Hermione had some time alone. But rather than just waiting in the bedroom for her mother-in-law to return, Hermione had opted to watch the guests arrive for the wedding.

From the bedroom they'd been set up in, it was impossible to see the back of the manor, so Hermione headed down to the floor below and found the perfect place to watch the guests arrive. The room she found herself in held a beautiful piano, which she knew both Draco and Narcissa could play. Settling herself at the window, Hermione watched as Lucius greeted people she'd never seen before in her life. Obviously it was the pureblood socialites arriving.

As she watched, Draco emerged from the manor and Hermione had to smile at the sight of her husband in a set of classy dress-robes. These days it was rare for Draco to wear wizarding robes, and the last time Hermione could recall seeing him in robes was during their time at Hogwarts. Although no doubt he was also wearing a smart suit and the second it was appropriate he would lose the robes and just wear his suit. But since they were doing things traditionally, it was only right that he wore dress-robes for the actual wedding ceremony.

As she was admiring how attractive her husband was looking, Hermione was distracted by the arrival of the first of her friends in the form of George and Angelina. The couple greeted Draco warmly, before heading down the laid out path to where the ceremony was going to take place at the lake. Following George and Angelina's arrival, a few other friends, both hers and Draco's, turned up amid the society people Hermione didn't know.

And then finally, Hermione spotted the familiar figures of her two best friends. As expected there was no sign of Ginny, and even though they'd invited Lavender out of politeness when they'd invited Ron, there was no sign of her either. Hermione watched as the pair exchanged awkward greetings with Draco, but there were no major dramas as they headed off to take their seats.

Once she was sure Harry and Ron had arrived, Hermione intended to head back to start getting dressed, but before she could turn away from the window she spotted Theo arriving. As expected he was also attending the wedding solo, as even though she'd also been invited no-one had honestly expected Daphne to turn up. As Theo greeted Draco, Hermione could see how awkward the exchange was, and she found herself wondering if the pair had talked since Vegas.

In fact, Hermione found herself wondering how things stood with a lot of Draco's friends. Other than Blaise, whom she'd seen a few times, it was just occurring to Hermione that since Vegas she hadn't seen any of Draco's other friends. Nor had Draco mentioned them. She'd been so caught up with her own friends, and the dramas going on there, that she'd completely forgotten that their wedding hadn't just affected her friendships, Draco's friendships had also been affected by their choices. Especially his friendship with Theo, whose loyalties must be completely divided between his friend and his girlfriend's family.

"Talk about selfish," she muttered to herself, vowing to be a better wife and to be more considerate towards Draco's potentially damaged friendships.

Taking one last look at Draco and Theo, who were still talking awkwardly, Hermione turned and headed back to start focusing on her wedding. She'd only been back in the bedroom a few minutes when Narcissa came bustling back in, now dressed in a stunning pale lilac dress and carrying a large hat in the same shade of lilac.

"You look lovely, Narcissa," Hermione said, offering her mother-in-law a smile.

"Thank you," Narcissa replied, smiling back at Hermione. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous," Hermione answered. It felt strange to be nervous over doing something that she'd already done before, but the wedding she was about to be part of couldn't be further away from the intimate ceremony she and Draco had undertaken in Vegas.

"It's only to be expected," Narcissa replied.

"Even though I'm already married?" Hermione questioned.

"I doubt you had time to get nervous last time," Narcissa remarked, her tone turning slightly frosty, reminding Hermione that despite recent improvements in her relationship with Draco's parents the wedding in Vegas was still a sore subject.

"This does feel more like a wedding," Hermione admitted.

"I should hope so," Narcissa said briskly. "Do you need to change before we get you into your dress?"

"I have got a new set of underwear for the occasion," Hermione replied.

"Get it on and then we can get moving," Narcissa ordered with a snap of her fingers.

Picking up the bag which held her new lingerie set, Hermione headed into the bathroom to change. She'd gone for a demure bra and knickers set in a shade of cream, and while they weren't overtly sexy, Hermione knew Draco would appreciate how virginal and innocent they appeared. Clad in just her new underwear, Hermione quickly smoothed some of her favourite coconut body lotion onto her skin before returning to the bedroom.

Narcissa didn't comment on Hermione's lingerie choice, which was a great relief to Hermione, but she did smirk knowingly as she helped Hermione into her wedding dress. As she stood in front of the mirror, Hermione marvelled at the job Parvati had done. She'd kept the heart of the dress intact, but had modernised it so that the delicate lace sleeves were shorter and the detailed bodice didn't look outdated. And of course the dress fit Hermione as though it had been made for her.

"You look perfect," Narcissa gushed as Hermione stepped into her shoes and Narcissa helped her pin her veil to her head, with the aid of a beautiful silver tiara which Narcissa herself had worn on her wedding day.

"Thank you so much, Narcissa," Hermione said softly, genuinely moved as she took in the sight of herself, ready to get married. "For everything. Not only are you giving me the perfect wedding, but you've welcomed me into the family, and I know you didn't have to do that."

"Actually, I did. Otherwise I would have lost Draco," Narcissa reminded her. "But I am glad I gave you a chance," she added more kindly. "I want today to be our fresh start, Hermione. Today is the day you really become a Malfoy, and there's no need for us to ever dwell on the past and any problems we may have had. We're a family, and no matter what happens, the Malfoys always stick together."

"I'm still very grateful for everything," Hermione said. "And I can't wait to really become part of the family."

"Not long to go now," Narcissa said as she checked the time. "Let's move downstairs, and once I've checked everyone has arrived and we're all ready, we can begin."

Obviously Narcissa had everything sorted, and that included a room at the back of the manor on the ground floor, where Hermione waited while she checked that everything was running smoothly outside. After only a few minutes, Narcissa retuned and handing Hermione her bouquet she informed her they were good to go.

"I'm going to take my seat, you follow when you're ready," Narcissa said as she gave Hermione a peck on the cheek, settled her large hat on her head and disappeared to take her seat for the wedding.

"Here we go," Hermione whispered to herself as she took a deep breath and followed in Narcissa's footsteps.

A pathway to the lake had been marked out for the guests, and Hermione followed the pathway. As she approached the lake she could hear quiet music being played, and once she was in sight a single harpist accompanied her as she walked past the rows of chairs and across the rose strewn bridge, to where Draco was waiting on the centre island with the Minister who was going to marry them.

"You look amazing," Draco whispered, taking her hand as the harpist stopped and silence prevailed.

Returning the compliment, Hermione smiled at her husband and together they turned to face the Minister. The first part of the ceremony was much like a muggle wedding ceremony with the couple making heartfelt vows and exchanging rings. But it was the second part where the magic of their world made its presence felt. A magical silver band coiled itself around the couple, binding them for life and making Hermione an official part of the Malfoy family. Even though their wedding in Vegas had contained the magical binding element, it hadn't contained the element of Hermione being encompassed as part of the Malfoy family. It was an added extra, and Hermione knew it was to make it clear to everyone watching that this wedding was legitimate and that from now on, Hermione was a Malfoy.

After the magical element of the wedding came the official proclamations that Hermione and Draco were now officially man and wife. And then came the announcement that the groom could kiss the bride. Hermione suspected that at most wizarding weddings the kissing of the bride was a discreet affair, but she could tell by the wolfish grin Draco was wearing that he was about to be anything but discreet. And she sure enough he swept her up into a passionate kiss. Not that Hermione was complaining as she kissed Draco back with everything she had.

"Wow," Draco breathed when they finally came up for air, although they were still holding onto each other and only had eyes for one another.

"You can say that again," Hermione chuckled. "I rather think we're putting on quite a show."

"Good," Draco replied as he once again connected his lips with Hermione's and kissed her just as passionately as he had moments earlier.

However, they couldn't spend all day kissing and once they broke apart for the second time, they turned hand in hand and crossed back over the bridge. As they crossed over the bridge enchanted rose petals began to fall, and they continued to fall over the couple as they led the way back to the manor.

Once back at the manor, Hermione and Draco headed into a side room with the Minister to resign the official paperwork they'd originally signed in Vegas, while everyone else congregated in the large ballroom, where the reception was being held.

"I'm still not sure why we need to do this," Draco remarked as he signed the documents which made his marriage to Hermione legal. "Our marriage is already legal."

"Your father wanted everything doing right," the minister informed him. "And these papers don't affect the fact you were legally married some weeks ago. It just confirms matters. And in fact, it could even make it even harder than it already is, if sometime in the future you want to end the marriage."

"Never going to happen," Draco replied with confidence. Even if divorce was easy in the wizarding world, which it certainly wasn't, he knew it was an option he would never entertain for the rest of his life. Hermione was his wife and nothing in the world was going to change that fact.

"I admit, the pair of you do seem very much in love," the minister replied as Hermione signed the documents and he himself then gave them his official seal. "That's it," he announced as he rolled up the documents. "It's all official. Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Malfoy, I hope you have a wonderful life together."

"We will," Hermione said, smiling at Draco as the minister said his goodbyes and left the happy couple alone.

"Do you think we have time to consummate the wedding?" Draco asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Not without one of your parents coming to find out what's keeping us," Hermione laughed. "Let's wait until tonight."

"Speaking of tonight, I've booked us the honeymoon suite at our Parisian hotel," Draco said as he removed his stifling dress robes, revealing a perfectly tailored tuxedo. "That's better," he muttered, throwing the robes over the back of a chair. "Now I'm ready to go and face our public."

"Me too," Hermione agreed. "And I love the idea of going to Paris for our wedding night."

"Let's see if we can sneak off early," Draco whispered to his wife as they headed towards the ballroom, where they could hear the party had already begun.

"Somehow, I don't think that will be an option," Hermione chuckled.

And sure enough, Hermione was right as from the second they entered the ballroom, they were the centre of attention. Everyone wanted to speak to them, and Hermione found herself being congratulated by dozens of people she'd never met before. Luckily their friends also managed to squeeze their way through to them, so it wasn't just strangers congratulating her.

"Congratulations," Ron said softly when he and Harry were finally able to grab Hermione and her husband. "You look lovely."

"Thank you," Hermione replied with a smile. "And thank you for coming. It means so much to me."

"We promised we wouldn't miss it," Harry said, giving Hermione's hand a squeeze.

"Even if you don't approve?" Hermione asked, looking more towards Ron as she knew Harry was far more understanding of her situation.

"I'm not sure I can disapprove now," Ron admitted with a sigh. "I can see how much you love each other. But I'm warning you, Malfoy, if you ever hurt Hermione, I will make you regret it."

"I won't hurt her, but I appreciate you looking out for her," Draco said sincerely as he offered his hand for Ron to shake.

"Thank you Ron," Hermione whispered, embracing her friend once he'd shaken Draco's hand.

"I just want you to be happy," Ron said. "And I'd have to be blind not to see that Malfoy makes you happy," he added with a resigned sigh. "And I'm sorry if I've said anything in the past that hurt you. I was just looking out for you. I've never wanted you to be hurt, Hermione."

"I know," Hermione replied with a soft smile. "And let's forget about anything we might have said in the past. Today is a fresh start for everyone."

"I just wish everyone thought like that," Harry said with a sigh as he also gave Hermione a hug. "I'm sorry I couldn't persuade Ginny to come."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to force her," Hermione said. "Let's not push our luck. Maybe after you're married and Draco and I aren't around, she might come around."

"What do you mean, not around?" Harry asked in confusion.

While Hermione explained their plans for a long honeymoon to her two best friends, Draco drifted off to speak to some of his friends. By the time Hermione finished talking to Harry and Ron, who had both made her swear to keep in touch while she was away, Draco had spoken to his friends and Hermione witnessed Theo wishing him luck before making an early departure.

"How are things with Theo?" she asked as her husband took her in his arms and led her out onto the dancefloor for their first dance.

"They're getting there," Draco admitted. "I don't think it's ever going to be the same again, but neither of us plan on abandoning our friendship."

"And what about Daphne?" Hermione asked gently.

"She's promised Theo that she won't try and tell him who to be friends with," Draco replied. "But she's also made it clear that our friendship is dead."

"Maybe in time she'll change her mind," Hermione suggested hopefully. "It might be easier for her to move on and forgive you when some time has passed and Astoria has moved on."

"Maybe," Draco replied with a slight shrug. "But I won't be holding my breath. Not that I want to think about that now. All I want to think about is my beautiful wife. I know we've been married for weeks, but now I really feel married."

"I know what you mean," Hermione said. "I think your mother has done us a favour by insisting we have a second wedding. I don't regret getting married in Vegas, but I do think that in years to come I might have regretted not having a day like this to look back on. Now we've got the best of both worlds."

"And a second wedding night to enjoy," Draco grinned.

"You're insatiable," Hermione laughed.

"Only for you," Draco returned as he pulled Hermione tighter into his arms and slanted his lips over hers.

Their second wedding it may have been, but it was their first wedding reception, and despite Draco's hopes that they could get away early, they ended up being at the manor until late, celebrating with friends, family and a selection of the wizarding elite. All of whom left the wedding with no doubt that they'd just witnessed two people very much in love embark on the start of a new life together.


	21. Chapter 21

The honeymoon suite at Draco and Blaise's Parisian hotel was every bit as stunning as Hermione expected. It was a corner suite with a large living area, a sumptuous bedroom and a luxurious bathroom. The balcony offered stunning views of Paris, and in particular the Eiffel Tower, which seemed to be so close you almost felt you could touch it.

By the time they arrived in Paris on their wedding day, it was already late and with it being their wedding night it was the early hours of the morning before they finally got to sleep. That meant they were late getting up the following day, and even though Draco had arranged a late check out for them it still meant they had no time to take in the sights of the city. Luckily no-one else was booked into the honeymoon suite, so Draco extended their stay for another night.

That meant that the couple had been able to dine out in Paris on their second evening and the following morning they'd done some exploring in the beautiful city. They were now back at the hotel, supposedly getting ready to leave. However, they once again had a late check-out sorted and they'd fallen back into bed. Only while Draco had drifted off to sleep afterwards, Hermione had gotten up and was sitting out on the balcony, wrapped in the silk dressing gown the hotel provided.

"What are you doing out here?" Draco asked, padding out onto the balcony.

"Admiring the view," Hermione replied. Turning her head she gaped at Draco, who hadn't bothered to put any clothes on when he'd gotten out of bed.

"Don't look so shocked, no-one but you can see me," Draco chuckled, settling himself in the chair next to his wife's.

"How can you be so sure?" Hermione muttered, glancing at a couple of the nearby building that were around the same height as the hotel. It was impossible to say if there was anyone in any of those buildings at the window, but if there were they would have a perfect view of her naked husband.

"All the balconies have privacy spells around them," Draco informed her. "There could be someone in one of the nearby building looking right at us, and all they would see was an empty balcony."

"Are you sure?" Hermione checked.

"It is my hotel, Hermione," Draco chuckled. "I can prove it to you if you want."

"How are you going to do that?" Hermione asked.

With an impish grin, Draco leaned forward and pulled on the tie of Hermione's silk robe. The robe instantly parted, revealing Hermione's naked body underneath.

"Draco," Hermione hissed, gathering the robe together and covering herself up. "How does that prove anything?"

"Do you really think I would have done that if anyone could see you?" Draco asked with a chuckle. "I'm far too possessive for that, Hermione. That delicious sight is for my eyes only."

"So you're positive no-one can see us?" Hermione checked.

"A hundred percent," Draco assured her.

"You better be right," Hermione muttered as she got to her feet and let the silk robe fall to the floor.

"Maybe I should have mentioned these privacy spells earlier," Draco said with a wolfish grin as his wife straddled his lap.

"I just thought we could have one last time admiring the view," Hermione said, settling herself so she could see the Eiffel Tower.

"One last time?" Draco frowned. "You make it sound as though we're going to be going our separate ways and this is goodbye."

"I just meant one last time here," Hermione chuckled. "We are going home in a few hours."

"We could extend out stay again," Draco replied, running his hands up Hermione's smooth skin and towards the firm globes of her breasts.

"As tempting as that is, we can't," Hermione said with a slight moan as Draco's hands reached their targets and his thumbs brushed over her nipples.

"We can do what we want," Draco retorted, pressing a wet kiss to the top of Hermione's chest.

"We're just about to head off on a long honeymoon, and we've got things to sort at home before we leave," Hermione pointed out. "As tempting as it is to stay here for longer, we have to be responsible."

"But not for another couple of hours," Draco countered. "Until then we can carry on enjoying ourselves."

"Most definitely," Hermione agreed with a grin as she pressed her lips against Draco's.

Regardless to the fact they were outside, albeit on a balcony with a privacy spell cast over it, things quickly turned heated between the couple. Without any fuss, Draco entered Hermione and with a stunning view of the most famous landmark in Paris, they leisurely made love under the warm afternoon sunshine.

"I love you," Draco gasped as they reached the peak of their lovemaking.

"I love you too," Hermione returned breathlessly, tumbling into ecstasy and loving every second of it.

Afterwards the pair remained wrapped around each other as they recovered. However, real life couldn't be avoided forever and with their time in Paris running out they headed back inside for a shower. Of course a shower led to more fun, this time under the hot spray of water in the majestic glass shower, but all too soon they were washed, dressed and checking they hadn't forgotten to pack anything. Although the chances of them leaving something behind were fairly remote as since they'd only planned to be in Paris for the one evening, they were travelling light.

"Are you sure you want to go home?" Draco checked before they left the honeymoon suite and went to check out.

"Yes, I want to get planning our real honeymoon," Hermione said.

"In that case, we should leave," Draco conceded. As much as he would have loved to have stayed on in Paris, he knew Hermione was right and he knew they had to return home and get everything sorted before they left for the prolonged honeymoon they both wanted.

Checking out of the hotel was a simple process, made even easier by the fact Draco owned the place and the staff were eager to please the big boss. The couple then took an international floo connection back to Draco's office, and then apparated home as they hadn't opened the floo before they'd left for Paris.

"Home sweet home," Draco remarked as they arrived back in his penthouse and he dumped their bag in the bedroom.

"In all our haste to plan the perfect honeymoon, we have forgotten something," Hermione said as she wandered into the kitchen to feed Crookshanks, who had appeared the moment they'd entered the penthouse.

"What?" Draco asked, his eyes glued to Hermione's backside as she bent over to deal with her cat.

"Crooks," Hermione replied, scratching her old cat on the head as he dove into the fresh food she'd just put out. "How can we go away for at least a year and just leave him?"

"We can't take him with us, Hermione, it's not practical," Draco warned.

"I know that," Hermione chuckled. "But if we are going to go away for so long, we need to find him somewhere to stay. And I don't want to give him away. He never had a proper home before I took him, and I won't abandon him now he's getting on in years."

"Would any of your friends take him while we're away?" Draco asked.

"Crookshanks hates Ron, and to be honest I think the feeling is mutual," Hermione admitted. "He and Harry get along okay, but I doubt Ginny will want to take him on. I guess I could ask George and Angelina, and hope that Angelina can stop George from blowing him up or something."

"You'd never be able to relax if you were worrying about Crookshanks being blown up," Draco pointed out. "We need to find him a home where you know he'll be well cared for, and possibly even pampered."

"But where?" Hermione asked. "I love Crooks, but even I have to admit he's an acquired taste. He's not instantly lovable, and at times he can be downright grumpy."

"Sounds like father," Draco joked. "Which is why I think the manor might be the place for him. Mother loves animals, and I'm sure she'll dote on Crookshanks."

"What about your father?" Hermione questioned. "Is he a cat person? Haven't I seen a portrait at the manor where your father is surrounded by dogs?"

"We've never had cats, but we have had dogs," Draco replied. "In fact, mother and father still have a couple of old Labradors. But Crookshanks won't bother them. At least let me ask if they would take him."

"Okay, you can ask," Hermione agreed. "To be honest, it would be the best solution."

"Consider it done," Draco promised. "Now it's too late to get started on planning the honeymoon, so how about we get out of these clothes we've been travelling in."

"You're sex mad," Hermione laughed. "We've been in these clothes for less than an hour, and since we haven't even had dinner yet, there's loads of time to start planning."

"And that time will still be there tomorrow," Draco argued. "Come on Hermione, you know you want to get naked."

"You're a bad influence, Mr Malfoy," Hermione chuckled as she began to unbutton her blouse.

"Only on you, Mrs Malfoy," Draco retorted, pulling his shirt off without bothering to unfasten it.

He then grabbed Hermione, and laughing the pair made their way into the bedroom, where they spent the rest of their day continuing from where they'd left off in Paris. They still had plenty of time to start sorting their honeymoon and arranging the practicalities of been gone for so long.

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"What about Vegas?" Blaise asked, settling himself in front of Draco's desk.

For the last couple of days, Draco and Blaise had been sorting out the practicalities of Draco going travelling for at least a year with Hermione. Although it wasn't as if he was going to disappear for that time. He would be in contact with Blaise and his parents throughout the trip, and if there were any problems, it would be easy for Blaise to get hold of him.

"You can take the time I'm away to perfect your plans," Draco said. "By the time I come back, you could have everything planned and wow me with your ideas."

"Consider it done," Blaise vowed. "By the time you return, I'll have such a magnificent hotel planned that you would have to be crazy not to want to be part of it. Vegas is the next step, Draco, you mark my words."

"Well just don't get so focused on Vegas that you forget our other hotels," Draco cautioned. "I do want a business to come back to, Blaise."

"As if I would let you down," Blaise chuckled. He may have been more laid back than Draco, but he was no fool and there was no way he was going to let their business suffer in his best friend's absence.

"I know I can rely on you, Blaise," Draco said sincerely. "I've always been able to rely on you."

"It's just a shame you never listened to my advice," Blaise remarked. "If you had, you and Hermione would have been back together long before now."

"You were right, I should have fought for her long ago," Draco admitted. "But at least we're together now, and that's what matters. You can waste so much time dwelling on what might have been. True, we could have been together for years if we hadn't let other people interfere, or if I'd been brave enough to fight for her, but we're together now and I want to focus on that. I don't want to get bogged down in what might have been."

"You focus on the future," Blaise agreed. "And you have a brilliant honeymoon, Draco. Go and make some memories you'll treasure forever."

"I intend to," Draco grinned.

After a few more hours of work, Draco called it a day and headed home to Hermione. While he'd been busy at the office, she'd been busy planning the first few legs of their epic honeymoon. As agreed they'd both drawn up lists of places they wanted to visit and things they wanted to do, and Hermione was logically sorting them into an itinerary that made sense. However, they were both agreed that they didn't want to make too many solid plans before they got going as they wanted to be free to go with the flow once they were travelling.

"How's it going?" Draco asked, flopping down beside Hermione on the sofa.

"Good, I'm just about done," Hermione replied. "I've got our first hotel booked, and I've got potential places to stay for the first few months of our travels. But we've got plenty of flexibility in case our plans change."

"And how are thing coming with Crookshanks?"

Draco had asked his parents about taking Hermione's cat, and Narcissa had been glad to do so. However, it had been decided that rather than just dump Crookshanks at the manor just before they left, they would try him out before hand, so for the past few days, Crookshanks had been visiting the manor and getting to know the place and it's owners.

"It's all set," Hermione said. "Your mother says he's fitting in just fine. He's already picked out a favourite armchair in the living room. He's apparently bossing the dogs around, who according to your mother adore him. And this afternoon Lucius was even found petting him and feeding him pieces of biscuit."

"I told you he would be pampered," Draco chuckled. Although to be fair he thought it would be his mother fussing over the feline, not his father.

"As far as I can see, we're all set," Hermione said. "There's Harry and Ginny's wedding tomorrow, and then we're good to go."

"Adventure, here we come," Draco grinned, hardly able to wait until he and Hermione said goodbye to Wizarding Britain and set off on a honeymoon of a lifetime.


	22. Chapter 22

Harry and Ginny's wedding was a far grander affair than Hermione and Draco's had been a week before. The couple were getting married in a luxury hotel in the Cotswolds, complete with a small press presence. And of course their guest list was far longer than Draco and Hermione's had been. Hundreds of people were going to be turning up to the wedding of the war hero, Harry Potter.

The wedding party had all arrived at the hotel the previous day for a rehearsal and a wedding dinner, and they would all have been present at the wedding breakfast. Hermione knew the details as she'd once been part of the wedding party, but now she was just a guest, so and Draco arrived at the hotel shortly before the actual ceremony.

"Here goes," Draco muttered. He wasn't particularly looking forward to the wedding, but he knew it was important for Hermione to be there as her best friend got married.

"Do you think I made the right choice with the dress?" Hermione checked.

She'd spent all morning deciding what to wear, and she was very conscious of not upstaging the bride. Not that she really thought it was possible to upstage a bride on her big day, but that wouldn't stop Ginny thinking so if she garnered too much attention. In the end Hermione had plumped for a light blue and white print dress, which was perfectly nice but hardly headline grabbing.

"You look lovely," Draco informed his wife.

"Not too lovely, I hope," Hermione remarked.

"It doesn't matter what you were wearing, you would still be lovelier than the bride," Draco whispered mischievously.

"Stop it," Hermione hissed, although she couldn't help but smile.

"Just telling the truth," Draco replied with a chuckle.

"I think you're biased," Hermione retorted.

"Most likely," Draco agreed with a nod. "But I like it."

"So do I," Hermione said, smiling at her husband.

Checking with reception where the Potter-Weasley wedding was being held, the couple headed off in the direction they were sent. The ceremony was being held in the hotel's largest ballroom, and to access the room they had to pass through a smaller room, which held two tables where people were leaving their wedding presents.

"Talk about overkill," Draco muttered as Hermione placed their present, a set of crystal goblets, on the almost deserted second table as the first one was overflowing with wrapped gifts. "How many presents do they need?"

"A lot of guests I assume," Hermione replied with a shrug.

She knew for a fact that the couple hadn't had an actual wedding present list as Harry knew that Ginny had expensive taste and he hadn't wanted to burden people with the expense of buying them something lavish. So instead, the guests had been able to buy whatever they wanted for the happy couple.

With their present placed on the table, ready for Harry and Ginny to open it after their wedding, Hermione and Draco continued towards the ballroom. Standing at the door of the ballroom, greeting guests and directing them to their seats, was George.

"Hi George," Hermione greeted, smiling warmly at her friend.

"Hermione, Malfoy," George greeted.

"Weasley," Draco returned with a nod.

"We're all friends here, try using first names," Hermione said. "Draco, this is George. George, this is Draco."

With a roll of their eyes, Draco and George exchanged a second set of greetings, using their first names rather than surnames. Hermione smiled her approval. She'd always thought Draco and George would get along swimmingly, and she hoped that in time they would become good friends. Sadly their proposed idea of meeting up hadn't happened as they'd been so busy, but Hermione was hoping that in the future they would have plenty of time to get to know each other and form a close friendship.

"I assume you're going to be sitting on the groom's side," George remarked.

"I think that's the best choice," Hermione said. "It's not like the bride really wants us here."

"She'll calm down once this wedding is over," George predicted. "Although I hear you two won't be around. You failed to mention it last week at your wedding."

"I did tell Harry and Ron," Hermione said. "Sorry for not mentioning it to anyone else."

"I guess you did have other things on your mind," George conceded. "But before you go, I want a proper goodbye."

"I wouldn't dream of leaving without saying goodbye," Hermione vowed, giving George a peck on the cheek.

Leaving George to carry on greeting the guests, as there were more people heading their way, Hermione and Draco headed into the ballroom. It was obvious which side of the ballroom was traditionally for the bride's guests as several of the Weasleys were already in their seats. Greeting a couple of them, Hermione made her way to a seat in the centre of the opposite side of guests, next to where Neville was sitting.

"Hi, Hermione," he greeted cheerily. "Draco," he added, nodding towards the blond Slytherin.

"Longb… Neville," Draco returned, catching himself just in time before he used Neville's surname.

Neville chuckled as Hermione gave Draco a grateful smile. She then chatted with Neville as the rest of the guests arrived. In the midst of the guests arriving, Harry appeared looking smart in his dress robes, along with Ron who was his best man.

"I'm pleased you came," he said, briefly, making his way over to Hermione and giving her a hug.

"I'm pleased we were invited," Hermione said, taking hold of Draco's hand.

"I couldn't get married without you here," Harry said with a grin, before he retuned to where Ron was waiting at the head of the aisle.

Only a few minutes after Harry arrived, Molly swept into the ballroom. Her arrival clearly signalled that things were ready to go as Harry and Ron took their places and soft music began to play. As she took her place, Molly glanced towards Hermione and made it clear that even though Harry wanted her there, the feeling wasn't shared by everyone.

"Ignore her," Draco whispered in Hermione's ear. "You're here for Potter. Just remember that."

Hermione nodded, tearing her gaze away from Molly and her animosity. Although Molly was quickly forgotten as the bridesmaids began to walk down the aisle. Once all the bridesmaids had made it down the aisle, all attention then turned to Ginny, who had entered the ballroom on Arthur's arm. And even if she had wanted to steal the attention away from the bride, which she didn't, Hermione wouldn't have been able to manage it as Ginny was breath-taking. She was every inch the blushing bride in her beautiful, meringue style white gown.

The wedding ceremony itself was very moving and romantic, and Harry and Ginny had written their own vows, which made it obvious just how deeply they loved each other. They were then magically bonded as Hermione and Draco had been, but whereas there was a big deal had been made of Hermione becoming a Malfoy, there was no such fuss about Ginny becoming a Potter. It was just the basic bonding that all wizarding marriages required to make them legal.

Following the ceremony, Harry and Ginny headed off to sign the official paperwork, while everyone else moved to a second ballroom, where the reception was being held. There was also a later night-time reception, which would be held in the rooftop bar, but as of yet Hermione wasn't sure if she and Draco were staying that long. She'd seen Harry get married, and she didn't want to stay too long and outstay her welcome with Ginny. After all, the last thing she wanted was to ruin her wedding day.

When Harry and Ginny entered the reception, they did so with a grand announcement. They then took their places at the top table and the formalities of the day began. Arthur, Ron and Harry all made speeches before the cake was cut and Harry and Ginny took to the floor for their first dance as a married couple.

"Potter should have taken dance lessons, he's got two left feet," Draco whispered to Hermione.

"He's never been able to dance," Hermione said with a fond smile. "It's part of his charm."

"I'd rather be charming with the ability to dance," Draco snorted.

"Not everyone can have your moves," Hermione laughed.

"If we go home, I could show you my moves," Draco retorted with a saucy smirk.

"I meant your moves on the dance floor," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"I could show you them first if you want," Draco offered. "Then we can go home and you can compare them to my moves in the bedroom."

"I'm sure we can squeeze in one dance," Hermione said with a smile.

As other couples joined Harry and Ginny on the dance floor, Draco pulled Hermione onto her feet and they joined the other dancing couples. After a couple of dances, Hermione spotted that Harry was on his own, while Ginny was flitting around the room talking to the guests, and she left her husband to go and speak to her best friend.

"Congratulations," she said, hugging Harry tightly. "How does it feel to be a married man?"

"It all feels pretty surreal at the moment," Harry admitted. "When did it feel real for you?"

"I don't know, it was weird. I felt different the instant we got married in Vegas, but I guess it didn't feel really real until last week, when we got married in front of everyone," Hermione replied.

"I suppose I'll feel married after the wedding night," Harry joked with a wicked grin.

"It always come down to sex," Hermione chuckled. "Draco is just the same. He's dying to get me home and show me his moves."

"Are you not staying for this evening's party?" Harry asked.

"I don't think that's the best idea, do you?" Hermione returned, glancing over to where Ginny was now keeping an eye on her and Harry. "I don't want to ruin Ginny's day. And I've seen the important part."

"By the time you get back, things will be better, I promise," Harry vowed. "Once the dust has settled, Ginny will see how unreasonable she's been."

"I hope so, but for now let's not push our luck," Hermione replied. "You have a brilliant day, Harry."

"Will I see you before you leave?" Harry asked.

"When are you leaving on honeymoon?" Hermione questioned.

"We're staying in the bridal suite tonight, and leaving tomorrow," Harry answered. "We'll be gone three weeks."

"We'll be gone by then," Hermione said. "We're going in the next few days. But I will keep in touch. I'll send you so many owls you'll be sick of me."

"Never," Harry said with a laugh as he swept Hermione up in his arms. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Hermione returned. "But it's not forever. Draco and I will be back."

After spending a few more minutes with Harry, Hermione returned to Draco and after making plans to meet George and Angelina for a drink before they left, they headed home before their presence became an issue and they ruined Ginny's big day. Fortunately their presence didn't detract from Ginny's day, and it had made Harry's day to have his best friend there to see him marry the witch he loved.

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A couple of days after Harry and Ginny's wedding, Hermione and Draco were ready to set off on their own honeymoon travels. They'd said goodbye to all their friends and family, and had shared goodbye drinks with several of them, and Crookshanks was nicely settled at the manor.

"Are you ready?" Draco asked his wife, setting their suitcase down beside the front door.

They just had the one suitcase between them, but thanks to magic it contained everything they needed to start their journey, and there would be plenty of room for everything else they bought on their travels.

"I'm ready," Hermione confirmed with a grin. It felt good to be free of responsibilities, and she couldn't wait to explore the world with Draco by her side.

"This is it," Draco said as he took hold of his wife's hand. "This is the start of the rest of our lives, and I don't plan on missing a second. We've already missed enough."

"Then let's not waste any more time," Hermione said. "There's a whole world out there, and I want to see everything."

Smiling at his wife, Draco picked up their case and wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist. "Your wish is my command," he said as the pair of them dissapparated into thin air, ready to begin the adventure that would mark the start of their lives together.


	23. Epilogue

**Fourteen months later.**

Hermione and Draco's honeymoon was the best time of their lives. They travelled the globe, visiting every continent and exploring both the wizarding and muggle world. They soaked up local culture, explored museums and historical sites, relaxed on white sandy beaches, went scuba diving in clear blue waters, discovered pockets of peace and tranquillity where they could be alone and they even tried a few more adventurous activities like cage diving with great white sharks.

However, their trip couldn't last forever and even though they'd been in constant touch with everyone back home, the time came when they themselves had to return to Wizarding Britain. Not that either of them minded heading home, as there was a reason they'd chosen to return when they did. A reason they planned on sharing with their nearest and dearest at a surprise homecoming party Narcissa had arranged for them at the manor the very day they arrived back in England.

"I can't believe your mother is throwing us a party the very day we've come home," Hermione remarked to Draco as they got ready to go to the manor. They hadn't even fully unpacked and the penthouse still didn't quite feel like home.

"Just be grateful father chose to warn us," Draco said. "It would be worse if we turned up thinking it was just a quiet dinner and everyone was there."

"True," Hermione conceded with a nod. "And at least it means we can tell everyone our news together. We don't have to decide who to tell first and hope word doesn't spread to the people we haven't managed to inform."

"True, we can get it all over with in one go," Draco agreed.

"Get it all over with?" Hermione repeated in annoyance. "We're not delivering bad news, Draco."

"You know what I mean," Draco argued. "Telling everyone together means we don't have to keep repeating ourselves and answering the same questions."

"And what if some people don't take kindly to our news?" Hermione asked, nervously nibbling at her lower lip.

"Sod them," Draco replied vehemently as he wrapped Hermione in his arms. "We're happy, that's all that matters, isn't it?"

"It is," Hermione confirmed with a grin. "And I am happy, Draco. Happier than I've ever been."

"Me too," Draco whispered.

Sharing a lingering kiss, the couple finally parted and finished getting ready for their evening at Malfoy Manor. Since Narcissa had arranged a surprise party for them, they didn't want to spoil her fun, so when they arrived at the manor they acted as though they were just arriving for dinner.

"It's so lovely to see you both," Narcissa gushed, hugging both her son and daughter-in-law. "We've missed you."

"It's not like you haven't seen us since we left," Draco chuckled. In fact his parents had joined them for Christmas, and they'd met up a couple of times at Malfoy properties around the world.

"I know, but it's not the same as having you here all the time," Narcissa argued. "You are back for good, aren't you?"

"We are," Draco confirmed. "I've got a business to run after all. Blaise is dying to get building in Vegas. He's even found us some land to build on."

"And what will you be doing while Draco is building a hotel in Vegas?" Lucius asked Hermione.

"I was hoping the offer of joining the family business was still open," Hermione replied.

"I'm sure something can be arranged," Lucius replied with a smirk. "Why don't we discuss it over a drink. Let's go into the living room."

"A drink sounds good," Draco said, sharing an amused grin with Hermione as Narcissa gave Lucius an approving nod before turning to lead the way to the front room.

Following Lucius and Narcissa into the front room, Draco and Hermione braced themselves for their surprise greeting. Even Crookshanks was present, sitting happily in front of the fire. Although even though Lucius had mentioned Narcissa was gathering their friends, they were still taken aback by a couple of the guests, most notably Daphne and Ginny.

"Surprise!" everyone cried.

"Wow, how amazing," Hermione said, trying her best to seem genuinely surprised.

"You knew," Narcissa gasped before whirling on her husband. "You told them."

"Something may have slipped out," Lucius admitted. "Although I said to act surprised."

"I did act surprised," Hermione protested.

"Hermione dear, you're no actress," Narcissa chuckled, her annoyance quickly fading in the face of having her son and his wife back home.

"Surprise or not, it's lovely to have everyone here," Hermione said, giving Narcissa a genuine smile. "Thank you for arranging it."

"It's my pleasure," Narcissa replied. "Now have fun."

Narcissa's words seemed to be the signal for everyone to gather around Hermione and Draco and welcome them home. In the midst of all the well-wishers, Hermione lost sight of Ginny, so she was left wondering just how pleased the redhead was to have her back. She was also wondering the same about Daphne as she and Theo approached her and Draco.

"Hello Daphne," Draco greeted cautiously.

"Draco," Daphne returned with a slight nod of her elegant blonde head. "I know I said our friendship was over, but we've known each other a long time and you're still part of Theo's life. I thought it would be best if we buried the hatchet."

"All of us?" Draco checked. "I would like to have you back in my life, Daphne, but I won't stand for anyone disrespecting my wife."

"You'll have no trouble from me," Daphne vowed. "I made my opinions clear when it happened, and while I will never be able to forget the way things happened, I don't want to dwell on them anymore. We've all moved on, and even I can't deny you two are more suited than you and Astoria ever were."

"How is Astoria?" Draco asked politely. It seemed odd to ask about his former fiancée, but it would have been even odder not to ask about her when Daphne had mentioned her.

"She's engaged. She's getting married in a few months," Daphne replied. "She's moved on, Draco. She's now with someone who worships her and would never treat her the way you did."

"I'm pleased," Draco said. "I never meant to hurt her, Daphne."

"I know," Daphne conceded. "But I think it's best if we don't mention Vegas again. Let's have a fresh start."

Draco eagerly agreed to Daphne's suggestion, even though he was very aware that nothing would ever be quite the same between them. As much as Daphne claimed to have moved past what had happened, Draco knew that she never truly would. After all, how could anyone move really past their little sister having their heart broken, and forgive the man who had broken it? Still, Draco wanted to try, and even if it made things awkward between them, he would like to have Daphne in his life once more.

Drifting around the room, Hermione and Draco caught up with their friends. They told stories about their travels, and listened to what their friends had been up to in their absence. And finally, Hermione found herself face to face with Ginny as she and Harry approached her and Draco. Although the first thing Hermione noticed was the small but distinct bump Ginny was sporting.

"You're pregnant," Hermione whispered.

"Nearly five months," Harry replied with a proud grin.

"Congratulations," Hermione offered, smiling at Ginny.

"Thank you," Ginny replied. "And I want to apologise. I was totally out of order before you left. I was so caught up in the wedding, that I blew everything out of proportion. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Hermione said, hoping that Ginny's new attitude was genuine and she wasn't just apologising to keep Harry happy. "Let's just forget it and move on."

"I'd like that," Ginny said. "Welcome back Hermione, we've missed you."

A couple of minutes later, after Ginny had informed them she was expecting a baby boy and she and Harry had wandered off, Hermione exchanged a knowing look with her husband.

"Can you believe it?" she muttered. "This is all we need. It's all going to happen again."

"We'd never meant to upstage her before, and we don't mean to do it now," Draco reminded his wife. "We can't help it if she takes things the wrong way. But maybe it won't happen this time. Maybe her apology was genuine."

"There's one way to find out," Hermione said. "How about we do it now?"

"Lets," Draco agreed. Taking hold of Hermione's hand, Draco loudly cleared his throat and announced they had something to say.

"You haven't had another secret wedding, have you?" Blaise joked.

"No, I think two weddings is quite enough," Draco replied with a chuckle. "We just thought we would share the reason we chose to come home now."

"You mean it wasn't because you missed us?" George asked with a pout. "And here was me thinking you couldn't live without us."

"Sorry George, it wasn't your appeal pulling us back," Hermione laughed.

"So what did prompt your return?" Harry asked.

"We decided to come home because we're expecting a baby," Draco announced. "In six months' time, there will be a new addition to the Malfoy family."

As congratulations filled the air, along with Narcissa's delighted squeals of joy, Hermione caught sight of the thunderous look on Ginny's face. However, Harry whispered something to his wife and the look slid away to be replaced by a forced smile. Whether she would go as far as accusing them of trying to steal her thunder again, Hermione wasn't sure, but she did know that Ginny wasn't at all happy that hers wouldn't be the only new baby arriving in the coming months. Although Hermione was soon distracted from Ginny as everyone offered their congratulations and she found herself swept up in several warm embraces. It was good to be home, and surrounded by so many people who loved them.

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Six months later, another gathering was being held at Malfoy Manor, this time to celebrate the arrival of Draco and Hermione's son, Scorpius. Even though the couple now lived in a new house, only a few miles away from the manor, Narcissa had insisted on throwing the party on the day her grandson left the hospital for the very first time. So after a brief stop at home, Draco and Hermione brought Scorpius to the manor so he could meet everyone.

Scorpius was the undisputed star of the party, and everyone wanted to hold the adorable baby. Even Blaise, who wasn't the least bit ready to settle down, was enamoured by the small boy. And even Ginny, who initially hadn't been very receptive to Hermione's pregnancy, had gushed over how adorable the youngest Malfoy was. Since having her own son, James Sirius, Ginny had changed completely and rather than resent Hermione's pregnancy being so close to her own, she'd embraced it and was already talking about their two sons being the best of friends.

"My son is going to be best friends with a Potter, isn't he?" Draco asked with a sigh, watching as Ginny and Harry introduced their own baby son to Scorpius.

"I think he just might," Hermione replied with a grin. Personally she loved the idea of her son being so close to Harry's.

"Damn Red's change of heart," Draco muttered under his breath. "I think I preferred her when we were at odds with her."

"I prefer this," Hermione said firmly.

It would have been very easy to hold a grudge against Ginny, and at times Hermione wondered if she'd forgiven her too easily for everything she'd said, but having Harry in her life meant a lot to her and there was no denying that it was easier now things had calmed down with Ginny. Besides, life was too short to hold grudges and Hermione loved her life far too much to be worrying about the past. She had everything she ever wanted, so why couldn't she be the bigger person and forgive Ginny for what had happened in the past.

Although there was one part of the past that needed addressing, and when they finally managed to get hold of their son, Draco and Hermione slipped away from the festivities and made their way out into the gardens. Arriving in the rose gardens, the couple sat down on the bench that was part of the memorial for their lost child. The other part of the memorial was the rose bush, which was looking very healthy and was blooming with enchanted roses that changed colour as the mood took them.

"We've brought your little brother to see you," Hermione said, directing her words to the rose bush.

"And we've brought you to see this place," Draco said to Scorpius, who was happily lying in his arms. "This is where we remember your lost brother or sister. They're not here with us, but I know they're going to be watching over you. You my boy, have a very special guardian angel."

"And don't ever forget it," Hermione added. "You've got a big brother or sister, who if they were here, would have loved you so much. We never forget them, Scorpius. They're always with us in our hearts."

"I have a present for you," Draco said, carefully reaching into his pocket and removing a small box, which he handed over to his wife.

Opening the box, Hermione found a delicate silver charm bracelet, already fitted with five charms. The first charm was a ruby lioness, the second charm was an emerald dragon, the third charm was a sapphire scorpion, the fourth charm was an amber cat and the last charm was a crystal angel.

"Our family," Draco said quietly. "And we can add to it in the future."

"I love it," Hermione said, fastening the bracelet around her wrist and stroking the tiny angel charm. "And thank you for including everyone."

"I love you," Draco said, wrapping his arm around his wife as she slid closer and snuggled up beside him and Scorpius. "And every day I am grateful that Blaise wanted to go to Las Vegas. Without it, we might never have found our way back to each other."

"I like to think we would have," Hermione said. "I like to think we were meant to be together."

"Of course we were meant to be together," Draco replied. "It's how it always should have been. You and me together."

"Forever," Hermione whispered.

"Forever," Draco agreed, placing a gently kiss on the top of his wife's head.

After everything they'd gone through to find themselves back together, nothing was ever going to tear them apart again. They were right where they belonged. Together. Forever.

**The End.**

* * *

**A/N – Thank you all for reading Serendipity, and I hope you all enjoyed it. As always, the support I receive while publishing my stories blows me away and I am grateful for every comment I receive, no matter how small. So thank you for reading, and keeping me writing and publishing.**

**At this point, I had hoped to be able to deliver news on the third part of the Darkness trilogy, but I have to admit that I'm still struggling with it, and don't yet know when it will be ready to publish. In fact, I don't have any more longer stories finished at the moment, but I do have a few shorter stories, collection pieces and one-shots to be getting on with, so I'm not going to just disappear.**

**Until next time, thanks for reading and I hope to be back soon.**


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